Mithridates sat in the sedan chair, the corners of his mouth drooping, his huge body shrunk a lot, very depressed, and Stratonis, who was sitting next to him, gently pressed the emperor's shoulder, and put his ear to comfort him, "Bixia, there is no more tragic and terrible news than this, but what you need now is the anger and faith of fighting the enemy, not the sorrow of nothingness." ”

"That's right, that's right, we have to take this fortress, kill all the Roman dogs, and use their heads and entrails to honor my sister, Zeus and Mithra!" Mithridates took the sword of Ottolicus and roared in a low voice, and then he suddenly saw that the eyes of Adiana, Tak Schiller and others flickered, so he groaned, pointed at Calabis and said, "Who is he?" Adiana, you didn't have such a slave before. ”

"This is a faithful slave who has followed me when I was in trouble, and his name is Calabis, who received him when your palace fell."

"Oh, not only faithful, but he also has the appearance of a foreign country capable of seducing young men and maidens, Adiana my good daughter, perhaps you should take note that you should keep chastity before marrying the kingdom of Godini, and it is not too late to pursue pleasure after marriage." Mithridates looked at Calabis and said in an inquiring tone, obviously aimed at Calabis, and then the one gasped, moved his fat body to make his posture more comfortable, and snapped his fingers, "Remember, good girl, I can ask about this little matter thoroughly—Timosius!" ”

At this time, Obisius, the captain of the guard at Mithridates, covered his mouth and smiled wryly at Adina, who looked back with disgust at the old musician-turned-flattering fellow, who hated him and his daughter as much as her aunt.

Timothy, although he bears a Greek name, he is actually a Scythian from the Bosphorus, a doctor, yes, an extremely eccentric doctor, he wears a heavy and dirty animal skin, his equally dirty hair is combed into a bulbous cactus-like braid, and his face is full of scars carved with knives, which were done by the elders of the tribe when he was born, and I hope that this man will not be afraid of blades in the future (he is indeed not afraid of blades, he is like a warrior, he feeds on blades and wounds) In his hand is a clay urn, Insiders know that it is full of poisonous snakes, with fire sickles, strips of cloth, and knives hanging from their waists, and two assistants in the back holding fixed frames, skeletons, and miscellaneous things.

"What's the matter?" Timosius touched his mouth and said in a rough voice.

"My dear Timothy, do a castration on this Calabis right now." Mithridates turned her finger lightly and pointed at the stunned Calabis.

"Castration! Do you mean that I will be a eunuch and a father-in-law like Baloude in the palace? "Calabis and his little friends were stunned.

"No, today is the date of the White Deer God's leap into the sky, and I can't use the blade." Timothy succinctly refused.

"Three days later, then."

"Not in three days, that's the day we sacrifice to Sima Pi's protector god, the fish god."

"You! Alright, Timothy, you have to remember this. Mithridates lost interest in continuing to delve into such a trivial matter, "Tell the armies to cut down all night and build siege engines, and to lay that fortress for me to-morrow." ”

On this night, Calabis made up his mind to slip away, he did not want to be "in a different place" under the knife of that ugly Timothy after some time, even if Adiana gave him a salary of three thousand drachmas a year, it would not make him change his mind, and instead of being a well-dressed eunuch on the side of the Ponticus, it was better to go to the Romans as a able-bodied camp slave - as long as he could escape with Poti!

Calabis, who was sitting on the axle of Adina's carriage, bit his nails and thought silently.

Although Calabis would not be subjected to "castration" for the time being, the attack on the camp of Apis by the Pontus army began on time the next day. Many foot soldiers with round shields howled and carried firewood and pottery urns in an attempt to build a few improvised pontoon bridges in front of the Romans' strongholds, but Appis organized a group of lightly wounded soldiers on the towers, and with ballistas and stones, they fired fiercely at the Pontic soldiers who waded across the river, many of whom were smashed to the ground on their backs, or stabbed by the heavy javelins fired by the ballistas, and the blood that flowed red the entire river.

But the officers of Pontus, relying on their numbers, kept shouting and scolding their subordinates, sending them out in groups, and finally two or three pontoon bridges leading to the Roman camp were erected beside the hill of corpses, and then the monster battering ram "Kauqi" was thrust up with a bang.

The "Kauzi", 16 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 7 feet high, had a frame made of lighter timber and two layers of branches on both sides to prevent enemy spears and short swords from stabbing the soldiers who pushed the object inside; It was covered with goatskins to prevent the enemy from throwing down the flames and burning it; A hammer with a bronze sheep's head could be attached to it, or a large scythe with a barb could be attached, the latter of which was used in this case, as Apis' fort was made of thick wooden fences.

Three or four Kauzzi were menacing, but when they arrived at the Roman camp, they were all dumbfounded—Apis was not idle last night, he asked the soldiers to quickly build two semicircular earthen walls in front of the fence, and the middle was stuffed with mud and tamped, this kind of sandwich-like thing, "Kauzzi" even has three more heads, and it can't drill through!

The soldiers of Pontic were also strong, and when they saw that they could not penetrate the drill, they carried the ladder with a hula, erected it on the earthen wall, and climbed up by stepping on the ladder, like rows of ants, and the soldiers under Apis, surrounded by towers and wooden ladders, operated the "scorpion crossbow" (a small hand crossbow), and shot small and thin arrows violently, so that the Pontic soldiers fell upside down and fell down, and then several Roman soldiers held sharp axes and cut off the pulleys of the ladder on the wall one by one

The Ponticians clinging to the towers and walls were swept away, and the first wave of attacks by the Mithridates army was defeated. But before noon, the Romans in the camp were still eating, and the archers of Mithridates, most of whom came from Scythian, Miti and other places, boarded the "elephant chariots" according to the squad, and a large number of soldiers pushed these tall wheeled carriages into the range of the Roman camp, and of course the camp was also within the range of these archers.

The command sounded, and the archers of Pontus, many of whom wore oriental-style pointed round helmets and half-length chain curtains, under the cover of the leather-wrapped baffle of the elephant chariot, set up a string to draw the bow behind them, and then got up and threw them, and a wave of arrows climbed rapidly up in the air, and then at a point, they stayed for half a second, and then turned down, and swooped down with the sound of death, and the Roman camp became the center of the circle that fell in all directions, and "swished" down, piercing the heads, necks, and chests of many soldiers, and nailing them to the ground, Let the blood drain in the howl.

But soon the Roman soldiers erected many high poles, on which hung curtains, sheepskins, and leather, and these colorful high poles dangled like soft shields, swaying and swinging in the wind, and the arrows fell on them, or fell, or changed their course, and fell weakly—the Roman soldiers, who were cowering under the large wooden shields and shields, devoured wheat bread with the sound of arrows falling like firecrackers.