On the snowy plains of Rikdania, Appis dusted off the snow like a reindeer that suddenly appeared, and slowly stood up, he felt that every qiē was fate, he was here more than ten years ago, freeing the camp full of slaves and resisting the army of Mithridates VI; Now, he is still here, but the enemies who pursue him include one of the slaves he had freed that year, and Mithridates. Ubert's daughter.

The whole team was on the verge of collapse, military discipline, goals and supplies were all lost, even Apis, who had fought in Minor Asia for many years, did not encounter such a cold midwinter as this year, although from the calendar, it was close to the season of spring ploughing, there was snow and rain all day long, there was snow and rain everywhere, the rivers began to turn the pulp, and the soldiers stuffed their military shoes with cold leather strips, flax and wheat straw, but when they stepped on it, the mud puffed up, and within a few steps, the whole foot was as huge as a "small island". If a cold wind blows by at this time, the soldier will often freeze immediately below the calf, and then the terrible words such as chilblains and gangrene will follow.

This is true of the people, and the same is true of the pack horses, they are all trapped in this boundless snowy area, and the dry rations they carry with them have run out, and the team in order to satisfy their hunger, they begin to kill the horses and mules that carry heavy baggage, and the goats that accompany the army, at first Scipio strictly suppressed this behavior, but after a few days, the whole army was on the verge of a mutiny, and the frightened Scipio had to acquiesce - and then, seeing that he could not get out, he could only deceive himself, and ordered the establishment of a winter camp, a winter camp with only a closing day and no departure day.

The soldiers of the two legions, unable to find fresh hay, could only pull out some thorns and dead branches from under the thick snow. Cover the tents. They did their best to dig deep into the foundations of the camp. In order to mitigate the damage of the blizzard, the camp was densely covered with the corpses of pack horses that had frozen to death and starved to death, and Scipio's previous most important salary, coins, oil cans, and other goods, were also thrown everywhere, and the soldiers on the verge of death saw it and were not interested in picking it up again.

By early morning, the survivors. Grim-faced, they crawled out of their tents, and then there was no smoke coming out of the whole camp, and all the survivors began to gather together, staring at each other without saying a word, and when some of the tents were covered with snow, and no living creatures crawled out, they lifted the corner of the curtain, and sighed when they saw that there were stiff and terrible corpses lying in the middle, all of whom had frozen to death last night. Cut down the brackets of the tents, so that all the curtains would fall. Covering the dead body, the fire in the brazier will erect, and soon black smoke and flames will emerge from everywhere, burning, burning the tent and the corpse together, forming a ready-made "cremation pile".

More and more fires shone in the eyes of Appis, could there be a more poignant sight than this? He sat down in the corner of the tent, a place of shelter from the wind, and in the open ground a dozen Roman feet away from him sat dozens of objects that could hardly be called living people, for their faces and bodies were covered with snow and water, and it was difficult to judge.

As for Scipio, it was also difficult for Apis to find out where he was, because it was not known if the Supreme Commander was still in the camp, whether he had frozen to death, or had quietly escaped?

For the organization of the whole army was no longer there, and Appis only knew that in front of the winter camp there was a majestic and towering mountain called Mount Asimanus, but that it was still a very long way to Silesia.

Soon after, there was a slight commotion from the living people around him, and Appis looked up to see several horsemen holding negotiation flags standing on a snowy hillside outside the camp

Apis was still a little surprised, Caesar's cavalry commander, the military slave Lebidaeus who had been freed by him during the Mithridates War, could still remember his name and resume clearly, but when he thought about it, it seemed normal, "It was an extremely intelligent and resolute young man, he had become a slave before, probably because of the accident of the tragic fate of the war, and he would have come out in this world sooner or later." Thinking so, Apis took the letter that Li Pida had handed him.

In the letter, Li Bida said: "I myself have never forgotten your kindness to me more than ten years ago, and in a certain sense, I should be your Krien disciple, because my freedom was achieved again with your assistance, and we have fought side by side. But I didn't expect the twist of fate to be so ups and downs, but I believe that this should not be a reason for you to refuse my last help—so please give up your senseless sacrifice with your team in this snowy field of despair and death, Caesar needs you, and the Republic needs you, and His Excellency Caesar started this war only because he was unreasonably jealous and slandered by Pompey, and he could not be distinguished. Doesn't the reversal of the tide of the war prove where justice stands? Malclus, Maximus, Cassillo, and Brutus, who had woken up before, so many young and handsome men, Caesar had all entrusted them with new responsibilities, and the soldiers of Pompey who surrendered, Caesar did not kill a single person indiscriminately, and they were all treated fairly and reasonably. Caesar did not destroy the Republic in any way, not even the slightest thought or action, and he did everything in order to rebuild this great kingdom that was plagued by chronic diseases and internal strife. ”

But Appis, who was very cold, did not read all the contents, went to a fire, burned the letter, and stretched his paralyzed fingers in front of the fire, then he turned around and said to the cavalry waiting for a reply, "I'm sorry, I'm not the supreme commander of this team, and I can't do anything to disobey the order and show favoritism, but please go back and tell your general that if the negotiation is fruitless, it will be a bloody war, I am not the kind of character who disregards the lives of ordinary soldiers, and I still ask your general to suspend the offensive, I'll take care of this qiē in front of me. ”

When the horsemen had received such a reply, they turned and crossed the long snow-covered street, and after about half a day, they saw the cavalry commander with a gilded baton in his hand, surrounded by retinues and guards.

Behind Li Bida were no less than 3,000 elite cavalrymen, who were in formation, and they had come from a long distance, that is, they had pursued all the way to the foot of Mount Asimanus, and wanted to destroy all the winter camp troops of Scipio, so they were already sharpening their swords, and they were waiting for the cavalry commander to give the order for a general attack.

"Let the token officer spread my orders throughout the army, wait for a day, and then continue to wait for my new orders. Hanske, General Dussonvier, led a thousand cavalry and went around to the front, cutting off the roads of Scipio's two corps. After understanding Appis's words, Li Bida looked at the peaks of Asimanus that appeared and disappeared in the snowstorm and said. (To be continued......)