Divinahailmoralealto del partitosarà conquistando (The one with high morale given by God will be invincible)

—Xenophon (ancient Greek historian, writer, disciple of Socrates)

As soon as the boats with torches docked, more than 800 remnants began to board the boats; Oscar and Mary, along with Licinius, Quintus, and Spartacus, followed the boat to the transport. Because it is a late-night transport, it is for safety; The volume of each wave is much lower than during the day. The first wave carried only these 800 men, while the second wave carried Narsi and the Ninth Brigade and some supplies on the shore.

As for Narsi, he has his own business; Because there was still a scout cavalry who had not returned, Narsi was to wait for him to return. Not only for the so-called non-abandonment and non-abandonment of the soldiers, but also for him to know the situation of the 200 Spartan hoplites who died in battle. Although, in Narci's mind, it was impossible for the 200 Spartan heavy infantry to escape under the attack of more than 7,000 Hannibal's legions.

However, out of an inexplicable respect for the Spartan hoplites; Nalsi still hoped for a miracle. After all, these 200 warriors have already played a record that makes Narsi feel incredible; It is not impossible for another miracle to happen. So, General Nalsi decided to do his best; Want to see if you can wait for this scout trooper.

Time always flies slowly while waiting, but the torch boat is still being transported in an orderly manner. When the last soldier of the Ninth Brigade boarded the boat, Nalsi knew it was time for him to leave. Just when Nassie decided to abandon the last of the horsemen and set foot in the boat; There was a rush of horses' hooves. Narsey immediately ordered the sailors in the boat to stop rowing and wait for the cavalryman.

Oscar and Mary did not go towards the transport, but came to Shixiu's flagship, Shixiu; Quintus, Licinius, and Spartak also followed Oscar to the Shixiu. On the Shi Xiu, Shi Xiu herself was wearing a set of red Qingli women's battle armor; Leaning on the deck and waiting for Oscar to arrive. This time, not only did Mary not speak ill of Shi Xiu; Instead, he took the initiative to smile at Shi Xiu and nodded.

Shi Xiu was not surprised by this; Although she didn't know much about the details of this so-called Mary, she could easily see through Mary's disguise. If he didn't even have this ability, how could Shi Xiu become the biggest pirate leader in the Nile Estuary? Moreover, Shi Xiu can clearly see it; Something must have happened between Oscar and Mary this time, and the relationship between the two is no longer an ordinary master-slave relationship.

Of course, all these thoughts were thought out of Shi Xiu's heart in a moment; Shi Xiu was not stupid enough to wander in front of everyone and think about things. When Shi Xiu saw Quintus, who was wearing the blue Legion Captain's armor following behind Oscar, she understood; In this battle of Sicily, the Romans must have suffered unprecedented losses. Otherwise, this captain of the house of Scipio could not have been so disgraced; It is impossible for Oscar and the others to bring back all two batches of boats.

However, with the wisdom of Shixiu; It's impossible for her to be out of line in front of people. As soon as she saw Oscar, she immediately prepared to report on the fleet; However, Oscar reached out and interrupted her. And, solemnly, he said to her: "We have suffered unprecedented losses in Sicily, and the combined Roman legions, including the Legion of the Wolves and the Guards, a total of seven fully armed legions, have been wiped out, including the elite five legions; Together with the 6,000 legions of the Greeks, we gathered an army of nearly 40,000 men, only to be beaten by the 15,000 Hannibal army, which was reduced to only about 800 men.

Not only us, but the entire Roman Republic had lost its capital on land to Hannibal in a matter of years. The Roman province of Upper Sicily and the Greek city-state of Greater Sicily would soon be conquered by Hannibal, and the whole of Sicily would become a naval base for the Carthaginians; We must immediately accelerate our departure from Sicily. “

Even Shi Xiu's mind was shocked by what Oscar said; There were only ten regular legions in Rome, five of which were the pillars of Rome and the other five were recruits. As a result, seven corps were lost in this battle; This also includes the five legions! Shi Xiu knew that now it was not only the Augustan family whose crisis was coming; Rome as a whole will soon face a crisis of unprecedented proportions.

So, Shi Xiu didn't dare to say anything more; Immediately lead the way in front and lead Oscar and the generals to the conference room on the Shixiu. At the same time, Shi Xiu ordered the flag bearer: immediately use the rattling arrow to give an order to the Anne fleet and all the transport ships in the open sea, and once all the personnel have boarded the ship, the fleet will immediately set off at full speed; Heading due west, the goal is Sardinia.

After Oscar and the others came to the conference room, Shi Xiu and Mary withdrew; Immediately afterwards, Licinius also exited the conference room with Spartak. Actually, when on the boat; Mary proposed to Oscar the first step out of his current predicament, which was to unite with the Scipio family. In this decisive battle with Hannibal, the four Roman families suffered the most heavy blows to the Scipio family.

Of the ten legions of the Roman Republic, only two legions of Scipio and Maxentius were annihilated; Even more devastating to Scipio's family was the death of Cornelius Scipio, the leader of Scipio's family. Although Scipio the Elder was only the governor of the province of Upper Sicilia in his position, the position of Scipio the Elder in the Roman military circles was unparalleled; Scipio the Conqueror is not an empty phrase, but the best proof of Scipio the Elder's achievements.

Moreover, the province of Upper Sicilia, one of the two most important territories controlled by the Scipio family, was about to be conquered by Hannibal. In this way, the Scipio family has reached the lowest point in the history of their own family at this moment; If there is no figure to turn the tide of the tide, the Scipio family will soon sink and never recover.

The point is that the monogamous system has not always been very prosperous due to the fact that the four great families of Rome have not been very prosperous. When Scipio the Elder himself was killed in battle, his third son, the third brother of Quintus; Gaius Scipio, the former lieutenant general of the Boar Legion and later the commander of the Fourth Legion, was also killed on the battlefield.

As a result, the entire Scipio family was left with only two adult bloodline members, Iulianus Scipio and Quintus Scipio. Quintus's fourth brother, Olus, is only 14 years old this year; Iulianus' two sons are 11 and 8 years old; Quintus's own son is only 2 years old, and his daughter is only 6 years old.

Unexpectedly, the Scipio family, which was still prominent yesterday, fell into such an embarrassment in one day; All this is unacceptable to Quintus. So, after evacuating from the battlefield; Quintus had been in a state of confusion, he didn't know how he was going to solve these problems, he didn't know how to save Scipio's family. His eldest brother was about to become the new head of the Scipio family and governor of the province of Campania in the Republic; It is impossible for the eldest brother to leave the last inheritance of the family and leave the province of Campania, so the only one who can work for the family outside is himself.

However, I really don't have the ability and ability to solve these problems! There is no doubt that he is a very qualified corps commander; However, this is done under the premise of more than 30 years of pure teaching from my father. Moreover, the corps commander is already the best he can do; Even his father commented on himself: he would be a perfect legion commander, but he was only a legion commander.

So, on the eve of my father's death in battle; He chose Oscar as the supreme commander to take over on the battlefield instead of himself. What made Quintus even more unacceptable was that his father actually asked the captain of the guard to tell him before he died: the Scipio family was about to face an unprecedented crisis, so that he should not question it; Unite with Oscar and the Augustus family, and closely follow Oscar until Aulus grows up, so that the Scipio family can get out of the crisis!

You know, Quintus himself is 35 years old this year; And Oscar is just a hairy kid in his 20s. Even if Oscar was indeed a genius before, this can't be a basis for surrendering to him! In terms of age, he is nearly twice as old as the Oscar; In terms of qualifications, Oscar was still a child when he was the commander of the corps; In terms of family, his own family is one of the four great families of Rome, and the Augustan family is just the so-called "fifth family" that everyone flatters.

No matter what you compare, you have to be better than the Oscar; The only thing that is inferior to Oscar is that he is the leader of the House of Augustus, but he is not the leader of the House of Scipio; That's all. However, the father's position in his own mind is the same as that of the gods; I really can't do anything against my father's will. In particular, this matter is still his father's last order before his death; Eventually, Quintus decided to follow his father's orders.

After all, his father was one of the most outstanding leaders of the Scipio family since their ancestors founded the family; Even the entire Roman Republic was proud of its father. Therefore, the father's command is something that he must obey. At this moment, Quintus decided to follow behind Oscar; and to promote the union of the House of Scipio and the House of Augustus. As for the so-called face problem; Could there be anything more important than the revenge of the father and the revival of the family?

What Quintus didn't know was that it was his decision today that made him go from being the captain of the House of Scipio to the head of the House of Augustus; Eventually, the Scipio family split into two Scipio families. With the demise of another Scipio family, of course; This Scipio became the only Scipio. Quintus, on the other hand, became the wisest leader in the history of Scipio's family; At the same time, he is also one of the oldest founding dukes of the empire!