I was alone with my shadow, and it said it had something to whisper to me, and it said it missed you. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info It turns out that my shadow and I are thinking about you.

- Plato (one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of Western culture)

Although Hannibal's three generals were full of confidence in Hannibal, they also firmly believed that their side would win the final victory in the decisive battle; However, the strong strength of the Roman Augustan family army still couldn't help but make the three generals feel a little more helpless.

The numerical superiority of Hannibal's army is difficult to offset the qualitative inferiority, which is the real fatal weakness of Hannibal's army, and the key to the worries of Hannibal and his generals.

After seeing that the three generals under his command were also sad, Hannibal changed his previous sad face and confidently encouraged the silent three generals:

"Could it be that the strength of the Augustan family in Rome makes you afraid? Think of how weak we were a year ago against the unrivalled Roman Union; Moreover, the commander of the enemy was still the famous Roman general Scipio the Elder!

The result? We won an unprecedented victory with absolutely inferior troops; We wiped out the Romans in a single battle, and our own losses were in the thousands!

Ladies and gentlemen, have you forgotten? You yourself are miracle workers, and you will be invincible on the battlefield; After all, the strength of the enemy only exists to set off your bravery! ”

Hannibal's words not only dispelled the doubts in the hearts of the three generals, but also aroused the belligerent hearts of the three generals! Yes, since you can defeat the powerful Roman army with an absolute disadvantage in the first decisive battle of Sicily; This time, why not?

Moreover, this time they had no less army than the Roman army, but more than theirs; Even if the quality is inferior to the other party, and you still have Hannibal, the peerless god of war, the real advantage still belongs to your side!

Looking at the three generals who were already dancing with their eyebrows, Hannibal sighed helplessly in his heart; This decisive battle, compared with the last time, is really much more difficult to fight, and it is far from being as simple as the three generals think.

As a military commander of the god of war, Hannibal deeply understands every detail of his army, and also knows what a strong army really needs; Your own army is still more than a step behind the army of the Augustus family in Rome!

In Hannibal's view, there are three decisive factors that determine the outcome of a war: first, the strength of the armies of the two warring parties; second, the logistical situation of the armies of the two warring parties; Thirdly, the generals of the armies of the two warring sides.

In these three respects, Hannibal's army was at a disadvantage; First of all, there is the strength of the armies of the two warring sides. Although the army of the House of Augustus in Rome was smaller than Hannibal's, it was far superior to Hannibal's army in terms of weaponry and training; This means that the army of the House of Augustus in Rome was more effective than that of Hannibal.

secondly, the logistical situation of the armies of the two warring parties; In this regard, the Roman family of Augustus had its own solid rear and a strong fleet, and its Sardinian grain and grass supplies were constantly transported to Sicily to support its decisive battle.

In contrast, Hannibal's army did not have such conditions; Regardless of the strength of Hannibal's navy, Hannibal also knew that with his relationship with the Carthage Senate, it was impossible for the Carthage military supplies to be transported to Sicily!

This means that the food and grass consumed by Hannibal's army in Sicily were obtained from the province of Lower Sicily; Coupled with the grain and grass materials captured in the last decisive battle, this constituted the logistical supply of Hannibal's army.

The military confrontation between Hannibal's army and the army of Augustus in Rome was destined to be impossible to last; Because neither side has the strength to continue the confrontation. However, if they keep holding each other, the first thing that can't support it will definitely be Hannibal's army!

Finally, there is a comparison of the generals of the armies of the two warring sides; It is extremely difficult to say who is strong and who is weak in this specific comparison. If only from the Supreme Commander, then Hannibal's army has an absolute advantage!

Hannibal's tactical command ability is obvious to the whole world; Countless people used their own blood to push Hannibal from a mortal to the altar of the god of war, this is not a myth, but a miracle!

However, it is always not only the Supreme Commander alone who determines the combat effectiveness of an army, but also a large number of officers at all levels. In terms of the generals of the legions who specifically commanded the army in battle, the Augustans would have a slight advantage.

Among the three generals under Hannibal's command, except for Mahabal, who is really a general who can take charge of himself, the other two are slightly deficient; Hush Domba had limited command ability, and Theophanis had too shallow command experience, and neither of them was really a general, but was entrusted with important tasks by Hannibal for some special reasons.

On the contrary, the generals of the Roman family of Augustus were even better; In addition to those generals who were quickly promoted, Luquis and Quintus were both generals who could stand on their own, and were in no way inferior to Hannibal's Mahabal. Especially Luquis, his tactical command ability is only stronger than Mahabal!

Even those corps commanders who were quickly promoted had quite good combat experience; Whether it is Licinius of the Guards Cavalry Legion, Luculus of the Guards Infantry Legion, or Cassiio of the Seventh Legion, they are all generals who survived the first decisive battle of Sicily, and their actual combat experience can be imagined!

Aside from the Supreme Commander and the corps-level generals, the biggest gap between the two armies is the comparison of mid-level officers; It is definitely the supreme commanders of the two armies and the commanders of each legion who affect the victory or loss of a war, but it is definitely the middle-level officers of the legion who determine the combat effectiveness of a legion.

In the army of the Augustan family in Rome, the officers at the level of centurion and captain were all trained by the Augustan Military Academy; In addition to being well-trained, experienced, and skilled, they have all undergone a systematic officer education, and they understand their duties and how to perform them.

However, Hannibal's army did not have such treatment, and in order to eliminate the impact of the rapid expansion of the army, Hannibal had to let his veterans serve as centurions and captains of the army; Such an arrangement has extremely limited effect on the improvement of the combat effectiveness of the army!

Because, those veterans who have survived a hundred battles on the battlefield, they are used to how to survive in one battle after another, but they do not know how to command others to fight; More importantly, they are also reluctant to pass on their fighting skills to others.

As a result, the gap in actual combat effectiveness between Hannibal's army and the army of the House of Augustus in Rome was still very large; If the battle between the two sides was only the size of a hundred men or a brigade, even if it was 10,000 people, the Roman family of Augustus would easily defeat an army of the same size under Hannibal's command.

However, the real war is not a battle of 10,000 people, but a battle of 100,000 people! In such a decisive battle, the role of the supreme commander of the army and the generals of each legion will be greatly magnified, but the role of specific centurions and captains will be reduced.

It's just that such zooms in and out are within a limited range, and it is impossible to completely change the disadvantages of one party! Hannibal knew that for his army to achieve a stable victory in this decisive battle, it had to have two conditions: first, Vimini led the army to reinforcements in time; Second, the high-ranking generals of the army of the House of Augustus in Rome made a mistake!

If either of these two conditions could not be met, then the decisive battle would have been a truly difficult battle for Hannibal's army; Even if Hannibal has the power to reach the sky, it is difficult to change the difference in strength between the two armies!

However, Hannibal has never been a man who easily admits defeat, as long as the final result does not come out; Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, Hannibal will go all out to win the final victory!

The words that reassured the three generals were only Hannibal's words to revive the confidence of the three generals; After the three generals left the tent, Hannibal began to think about how to carry out the next decisive battle.

In fact, Hannibal's army now had only enough food and grass to meet its needs for a month; Therefore, Hannibal must start this huge decisive battle in less than half a month and end the war as soon as possible. Otherwise, as soon as a month had passed, Hannibal's army would have fallen into a crisis of running out of food; By that time, Hannibal would have really been defeated without a fight.

In order to be able to come up with the best tactics possible for victory, Hannibal began to meditate on the map of the Zama Plains in his military tent; On the map, the wargames representing the army of Augustus in Rome and the wargames representing Hannibal's own army are distributed in a posture that completely coincides with reality.

Looking at these wargames, which represented thousands of troops, Hannibal's mind was racing about the tactics that should be used in the decisive battle; Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the tent, which made Hannibal, who was already agitated, even more angry.

However, Hannibal, who was very good at restraining his irritability, suppressed this anger; However, Hannibal still walked out of his military tent with a cold face, he wanted to see who was out there who was not practicing diligently, but was causing trouble! (To be continued.) )