A good person is not to peek into the darkness of others, but to "go straight to the goal without squinting".

- Marcus Aurelius (the only philosopher-emperor in Western history)

Vimina was indeed correct in these ideas, but would the Carthaginian Senate agree to recall Hannibal immediately? Vimina didn't know, but Vimina wanted to do her best for it. In order to be able to convince the senators as much as possible, Vermina directly ordered his 4,000 elite troops to go to Tapsus, the capital of Baisasian, to assist the defenders in resisting a possible attack by the Kingdom of Numidia; And he personally led dozens of cavalry all the way to the city of Carthage in Africa.

Just as Vimini wanted to rush back to Carthage, the Numidian army, which had been reorganized and rested for two days, began to march slowly towards Leptis the Great; This time the march of the Numidian army was not as indifferent and crowded as the last time. After a bitter lesson, the Numidian army marched much more cautiously; The Ahmet Legion was still in charge of the front army, but the rear army became the Jugurdah Legion, and the 12,000 cavalry under the command of Tulguta himself was responsible for guarding the perimeter of the army.

As for the three recruit corps that now only had 7,000 left, An An was advancing in an orderly manner under the personal command of their respective corps commanders; Because the slow-moving war elephants had all been killed in the last sneak attack, the Numidian army was moving much faster at this time. In fact, the most changed in the entire Numidian army were the three legions of recruits; Before the sneak attack, the three legions, although numerous, were differently equipped and varied, and did not look like an army at all.

After a sneak attack with heavy casualties, a large number of casualties to some extent also solved the problem of weapons and equipment of the recruit corps; At the very least, the recruit corps now has access to uniform uniforms and weaponry, which makes it look more like an army than before. The biggest change is not only the configuration and scale of the weapons and equipment of the three legions, but the transformation of the three corps commanders such as Gaia; These three people have completely changed!

In the past, Gaia and Niptasan and Egclus only relied on their own family background and loyalty to Zuguta to slowly enter the army as generals, and later, with Zuguta's successful succession to the throne of Numidia, they rose to become the commander of the recruit legion; Or it can be said that the reason why the three of them can serve as the commander of the legion has nothing to do with their own abilities at all. It was entirely dependent on the support of the family and the devotion to the Tsuguta that he climbed to the position of Legion Commander.

But since the three men had been given fifty lashes at the behest of Ahmet's death, they seemed to have repented; Not only did the commanders who had changed their minds and be safe and secure, but they also treated General Ahmed with respect everywhere, and even apologized to General Ahmed several times for what had happened. What's even more surprising is. They also always consulted General Ahmed on various military matters; And in order to complete the weapons and equipment of the army under their command, they actually used the power of their own family!

This incredible turn of events not only allowed the three to regain their new role as Tulguta; Even General Ahmed, who had always looked down on them, was impressed by them. Why did the three of them change so dramatically? Did they really come to their senses with a whip? Of course not! After being whipped that day, the three were carried by their own guards to the doctor's tent for treatment; During the treatment, King Zuguta, who had always favored them, did not come to visit them at all.

After the military doctor walked out of the tent, there were only three people left in the tent who were thoughtful; What happened in the military tent today suddenly made the three of them understand a truth. In fact. No matter how much he slanders Ahmed, no matter how hard he tries to squeeze out Ahmed; Nor is it possible for Tulguta to really suppress Ahmed. The reason is simple, Zuguta could not lose Ahmet at all, and Numidia could not lose him; Why can't you lose him?

Isn't it because Ahmet can fight, a general like himself who has a noble background and is loyal to Zuguta himself is not a big deal in the Numidian Kingdom, at least there is no problem in changing a few batches; But can Tulguta replace Ahmed? Obviously, it is impossible, there is only one famous general like Ahmet in the Numidian Kingdom, even Salah under Adheba is not as good as Ahmed; This dictated that even King Tulguta could only rely on Ahmed and not stay away.

Figured it out. That basically shows that the three Gaia really understand Tulguta; In other words, it means that these three people know what their future holds. So, after the military doctor finished treating the three people; Instead of going back to their respective tents to rest, the three went to confess their mistakes to Thuguta and apologize to Ahmed. Then, the three of them took the wounded back to their sharply reduced regiment to inspect the barracks and pacify the soldiers; And to raise weapons and equipment for them as best they can.

In short, after the great transformation of these three legions, the army of the whole kingdom of Numidia became more active and harmonious; Even Thuguta and Ahmed feel that it is not a big deal to lose nearly 20,000 troops in a sneak attack at this moment, at least they have brought back three excellent generals who have changed their minds, right? Since ancient times, no matter where it is, it is easy to get a thousand troops and a general is hard to find; Looking at the three generals who were getting better and better, Ahmet also began to carefully teach them to march and fight and command the army.

And so it goes. Finally, one afternoon, the Numidian army came to the city of Leptis the Great; Seeing that the city wall was not majestic, and the scale was only an ordinary Great Leptis, Zuguta smiled and asked Ahmet: "General Ahmet, how long do you think the sparse enemy army of less than 5,000 on the wall of Great Leptis can hold out under the attack of our army?" "Half an hour is enough for me!" Ahmed also replied confidently.

Listen to the conversation between the two. Gaia also rode his horse to the front and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, General Ahmed; According to the spies, there were only about 5,000 defenders in the city of Great Leptis, and all of them were new soldiers. If the elite divisions of the Ahmet Legion were to be dispatched, of course, they would only need to rush to the top of the city to win; However, this is not the best way to go. Nor is it the most beneficial way for our army. The last general has a new way to capture the city of Great Leptis, and to increase the overall combat effectiveness of our army. ”

"Oh? Is there such a good way? General Gaia, you don't have to be restrained. Tell His Majesty about your good idea. Ahmed, who had already been impressed by Gaia and the others, and regarded the three generals as disciples, said encouragingly.

Gaia glanced at Ahmet gratefully, and then continued: "Although the three of us recruit corps are equipped with complete weapons and equipment, after all, they are all recruits who have not experienced actual combat; So my suggestion is to have three legions of recruits launch an assault on the Great Leptis. Enemy troops are also recruits. It will not inflict many casualties on our superior recruit corps, but it will allow our recruits to see blood through this kind of battle; Even if it won't become an elite division for a while, at least it's better than a pure recruit. ”

Tulguta's eyes lit up with Gaia's suggestion, and he immediately agreed to it; Ahmed also looked at Gaia with admiration on his face, and Ahmed naturally thought of this idea a long time ago. Just wait for the three generals to take the initiative to speak. They didn't let themselves down. As soon as the official order of Tsuguta was given, the three Gaias led three legions of recruits and began to march towards the Great Leptis with a ladder; According to the plan, the Gaia Legion was to take the first attack, and Niptassan and Egklos were the second and third waves.

Woo~Woo~Woo~Woo...... As soon as the trumpet sounded in front of the Numidian army, Gaia shouted, "Kill!" "The first to attack the Great Leptis; The light infantry who ran were not slow, and soon came within range of the archers of the Great Leptis. Unfortunately, the bows and arrows in the city of Great-Leptis had long since been taken away by Vimyna; The five thousand defenders on the walls were nothing more than javelinmen and slingers hastily organized.

While Gaia himself led 5,000 lightly armed infantry to carry the ladder to the walls of the Great Leptis, the 2,000 archers who were responsible for providing long-range assistance also began to shoot at the defenders on the walls at a distance of eighty meters from the walls. The two thousand archers drew a full ring of arrows in their hands, and then fired a volley at the wall at the command of the general, and then drew a second arrow; After three rounds of arrows, the siege force led by Gaia himself also reached the bottom of the city walls.

Woo~Woo~Woo~Woo...... When Gaia hurriedly ordered the soldiers to put the ladder tower on the wall of the Great Leptis. In the rear, the horn sounded to stop the attack; What's going on? Before the inexplicable Gaia could react, Tulguta sent someone to give the order; Let Gaia lead the legions into the Great Leptis through the main gate and take over the defense of the city of the Great Leptis. It turned out that the 5,000 recruits, who had no experience in war, had planned to surrender directly; But the Numidian army attacked without even asking.

The panicked defenders of the Great Leptis hurriedly searched for the White Flag to surrender, but the White Flag was not found but was hit by a rain of arrows; In just three rounds of arrow rain, more than 1,000 of the 5,000 recruits fell under the arrow rain. In fact, no more than 200 people were actually shot on the spot, and the rest were all recruits who were wounded by bows and arrows and lay on the ground wailing; Such a scene was too terrifying for the remaining recruits who had never experienced a war scene at all, and some even collapsed on the ground in fright.

Fortunately, at this time, the white flag was finally found; As a result, a temporary general in charge of the 5,000 recruits immediately raised a white flag on the city wall and surrendered to the Numidian army. Although the direct surrender of the defenders of the Great Leptis reduced the casualties of the Numidian attacking army, it also ruined the original plan of Gaia and others to let the recruits experience actual combat; Niptassan and Egkolos are fine. Gaia and his army were like a punch on cotton, and an indescribable sense of powerlessness came over him!

The defenders were caught off guard by the performance of the defenders, but they couldn't continue to attack when the enemy had already surrendered; After that, who dared to surrender the Numidian army on his own initiative, the helpless Zuguta could only look at Ahmet and smile bitterly before ordering to stop the attack. Although the planned offensive was canceled. But the performance of Gaia and others still satisfied Zuguta and Ahmed; Whether it was the previous initiative to ask for battle, or the performance of Gaia personally leading the army to attack, it shows that their change is not superficial, but practical.

However, now that the war is over, the Kingdom of Tripoli has officially fallen with the voluntary surrender of the defenders of the Great Leptis; Other words. From now on, all the territories of the Kingdom of Numidia will be cultivated. At this time, the territory of the Kingdom of Numidia stretched from the westernmost shore of the Mediterranean Sea to the easternmost border of Egypt, and all of North Africa was Numidian territory except for the two provinces of Carthage and the Kingdom of Cyrenaica. This was already a huge area of domination that far exceeded the total territory (overseas) of Carthage in its heyday.

In order to appease the people of the Tripoli kingdom, the new Tripoli province of Numidia, Zuguta did not march his entire army into the Great Leptis; Instead, Gaia's legions were brought into the Great Leptis to guard and maintain order, while the rest of the army began to camp outside the city. As for the five thousand recruits who surrendered, they were no more than citizens of the Great Leptis who had been improvised organized; Coupled with the fact that they did not inflict any casualties on the Numidian army, Zuguta released them directly and unconditionally. (To be continued.) )