Kocula is surrounded by mountains that are higher than the city itself, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a lofty mountain, which is also the confidence of Anthony in advance to "surround more with less" - to replace thousands of soldiers with steep mountains, as long as the pass on it in time, build a fortress, and then use the wall to connect them in series, forming a huge blockade to surround Kocula, so that as long as a small number of cavalry to hold the entrance and exit streets, the goal of 20,000 people besieging 40,000 can be achieved.

Then all Caesar's soldiers went to work, and they consciously reduced the supply of food, for Caesar's greatest hardship now was the financing of food, which he could only buy at the place of Epirus and Illyria, but the reserves of many towns had been plundered by Pompey's cavalry, and these two provinces, which had never boasted of their grain production, had only barren mountains and boundless stones, and wheat flour had to be imported from Athens and Pella. Therefore, it is completely inadequate to supply Caesar's army now, and the grain of Italy and Gaul cannot be transported across the sea.

Even so, Caesar's army was highly motivated, starving, cutting down trees, carrying stones, and building forts on top of the hills. Caesar made arrangements: the Ninth and Eleventh Legions were to fortify the marshes in the north, and Caesar put his nephew Dicias in charge of this section; Caesar himself, with his strongest Legions, the Tenth and Twelfth Legions, fortified the mountains east of Kocula; Antony was in charge of the blockade in the south, with the 16th and 20th Corps under his command; Finally, there was the Eighth Legion, which was scattered along with the newly recruited "Cyclops" legion from Bugarotum to Apollonia in the area from Bugalotum to Apollonia.

"We are surrounded!" On the high ground where the Acropolis of Kocula is located. Lelias and Rabinus looked at each other. Caesar's soldiers on the move. Said.

"No, not surrounded, for Kocula has our fleet, dockyards and equipment, and abundant food reserves, and as long as these are in my possession, what is Caesar? Besides, he only has 20,000 people in front of him, and I have 40,000. There are also two legions on the periphery, ready to flank him at any time! General Rilias, this is exactly what my ploy has worked, Caesar will always be a gambler, I know him too well, so I will give him a taste of the fiasco of the adventure. Rabinus sneered confidently twice, and then ordered, "Against Caesar's blockade, we will also build a blockade around Cocula to confront Caesar!" ”

Other than that. He also asked the two vice admirals, Vespílo and Mirokius, who had previously escaped from the city of Olicum, to strictly supervise the craftsmen. Repair the broken ships in the dockyard, "Prepare to attack in concert with Lipo's fleet, I want to recapture Olicum!" ”

When it was ready, Rabinus pointed to Caesar's siege camp and said, "General Lelias, together with Director Macchius, will lead the light infantry and catapults of his servants to-morrow to storm that side; I personally led the team to deal with the enemy in the south, waited for the opportunity to return the 3rd and 5th legions, attacked them in a flanking attack, and then took Caesar from outside! ”

The next day, the brutal mountain battle began, Pompey's army had an absolute numerical advantage, and Lelias left half of his men to build the fortifications of the inner circle, and then personally led the other half of his men up the hill to fight a skirmish with Caesar's subordinates. As soon as Caesar's soldiers had repaired the makeshift camp and the wooden fence, Rilius's men rushed up with catapults and destroyed them, often fighting back and forth three or five times to fortify the fortifications and fortresses.

Caesar's two legions had different fighting styles, the Tenth Legion was the standard Roman hoplite tactic, and the Twelfth Legion was brought out by Li Bida and equipped with a large number of archers and slingers, as well as cavalry, and now in this kind of mountain warfare, the latter was obviously more brilliant, because Pompey's army was also equipped with a large number of light infantry, so the sky was covered by arrows and stones fired by soldiers on both sides, and there was no shortage of ammunition at all—both sides relied on collecting arrows and feathers fired by each other to replenish them.

Caesar himself, sitting on the back hill of the front, with the bloody mountains in front of him and the endless wilderness behind him, the great river of Gimons running through it, "Here I am, so that if they want to retreat, they must run before my eyes!" Caesar, sitting on his horse in front of his tent, said, "This will be more effective than any act of war—we cannot hold on, and this kind of terrain, if we collapse, will be completely annihilated by the enemy on the banks of the Gimmons River, and now there is no way back, and the only way to do so is to fight to the death!" ”

At dusk, the battle became more intense, and Lelias's team was like an all-pervasive "sand", Caesar's soldiers had just defended the fortifications of "A", and they broke through from "B", and even the hill where Caesar was located, there were several attacks, and the stone bullets and spears from the catapults and ballistas fell on Caesar's side about dozens of Roman feet.

After nightfall, the battlefield slowly fell silent, "Order, no rest, all soldiers are divided into shifts, continue to repair the fortress and dig trenches!" Caesar gave this inhuman order harshly, and then left his lieutenant in the guard, and without resting himself, he rode his horse ten miles from the night road to the northern blockade of Dicias, and urged them to build a strong barrier as well.

In the early morning, Caesar returned the same way, on the way to the top of the mountain, was shot by the cold arrows of the Rilius guerrillas, in the second half of the night these soldiers heard the sound of horses' hooves under the mountain, but they did not look carefully, as a result, Caesar slipped away, this time it was not polite, by the rising sun, towards Caesar's group of men and horses on the head and face, Caesar was hit by an arrow in the ribs, his horseman and shield slave were all stoned to death on the spot, Caesar immediately rolled off the horse, but fortunately he lined the armor with thick leather and animal skins beforehand, He was not injured, but quickly calmed his face, pulled out his arrow and threw it, jumped directly on the horses of his subordinates, and continued to rush over without saying a word, out of danger.

"Go ahead and patrol Anthony's fortifications in the south."

He was such a man, his hair flowing in the swift sun, as if he had left all danger behind, and he had contempt for all powerful enemies, so that all his men could willingly follow him closely. (To be continued......)