A person's worth is measured by what he does when he has power. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

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

Hush Duba, who has always been short-tempered and unusually impulsive, stood up directly from the left rear of the military tent, willingly knelt down on one knee in front of his former enemy Oscar, and said earnestly:

"Your Excellency, Oscar Leader, I know that we, the men under General Hannibal, cannot gain your trust; However, now that General Hannibal is dead in battle, we will never be your enemy again, and we hope that you will accept us.

As long as the House of Augustus is willing to accept us, and let us lead an army against the Carthaginian kingdom itself; We will definitely do our best to help the House of Augustus occupy the Carthaginian kingdom and hang all those Carthaginian elders with fat brains! ”

Hush Duba's words made Oscar's heart very satisfied, but Oscar did not take Husky Duba's words, but asked Mahaba:

"Whether your defeat was caused by the Carthaginian Senate or not, and whether Hannibal died on his own right; There is no escaping the fact that Hannibal eventually died under siege by the armies of our House Augustus.

Can you, the generals and warriors loyal to Hannibal, really let go of the hatred in your hearts, abandon the country and the people to whom you were once allegiated, and join us in the House of Augustus? How do I know if you're sincere or fake? ”

Although it was Hush Douba who made the suggestion in the first place, Oscar knew; Among the three generals who surrendered, the only one who could really influence the other two and control Hannibal's surrendered army was Mahabal.

Hushduba was Hannibal's confidant and favorite general, and he was also a cavalry general under Hannibal; However, its position in Hannibal's army is only that, and there is still a big gap between it and its true independence.

As for Theophanes, that's even less to say; The reason why he was able to occupy a high position at such a young age was nothing more than relying on his own special status, who made him a member of the Hannibal family, or Hannibal's own brother.

From a rational point of view, Hannibal's army never belonged to the army of the Kingdom of Carthage, but to the army of the Hannibal family and Hannibal; Their allegiance has always been to Hannibal and the Hannibal family.

Therefore, the core of such an army is naturally Hannibal himself; However, as a military commander, Hannibal cannot be on the battlefield every time, and he also needs to train some generals who can take charge of their own affairs in order to truly make his army stronger.

In view of this, Hannibal personally trained his own brother Margo, the general Mahabal, and the war general Hasduba; The presence of these generals, combined with an elite army, shaped the invincible and powerful army under Hannibal's command.

The entire Hannibal army, in addition to the supreme commander Hannibal, can also be the generals who can be alone, and there are only two of them, Marco and Mahabal; Margo had already died in the battle of Betica, which is why Hannibal handed over the Greek legions and recruits to Mahabal, because Hannibal believed that Mahabal could make the motley forces stronger.

Unfortunately, the short period of time did not allow Mahabal to change the weak nature of those ragtag armies; Coupled with the counterattack of those mercenaries with good combat effectiveness, this led to the collapse of the first two battle formations of Hannibal in the follow-up.

None of this can negate Mahabal's outstanding command ability, nor can it shake Mahabal's position in Hannibal's army; It is no exaggeration to say that after the death of Margo and Hannibal, Mahabal became the de facto supreme commander of Hannibal's remnants.

With the exception of Mahabal, Theophanes and Husduba could not have commanded the proud generals left behind by Hannibal; Even if they had failed, their pride would not allow them to obey the orders of others.

In this case, the only one who can really decide whether the remnants of Hannibal's army will be incorporated into the House of Augustus is Mahabal; Hushduba and Theophanes only have the right to speak in this regard, but they have no right to decide.

Mahabalu could naturally feel Oscar's gaze, and he understood the deep meaning of Oscar's words just now; Regarding Hush Duba's impulsive words, Mahabal did not have much resistance in his heart, but also had a faint hope.

Having said that, as a general under Hannibal, Mahabal followed Hannibal in the southern and northern wars for so many years; He knew best about the relationship between Hannibal and the Carthaginian Senate. In fact, he hated the senators of the Carthaginian Senate in his heart; It's just that the Carthaginian Senate and the Carthaginian Kingdom are not the same concept after all!

After struggling for a long time, Mahabal slowly walked to Oscar's side under the joint gaze of Oscar and the generals of the Augustus family, also knelt down on one knee, and said with a frank face:

"Your Excellency Oscar Leader, the death of General Hannibal has nothing to do with you and the House of Augustus; That is the general's own choice, and we will not impose this hatred on you and the Augustus family.

As for the outcome of the war, it is even less of a problem; The existence of war shows that there are winners and losers. The army of the House of Augustus was able to defeat us with dignity, and it was also strength, and we lost without complaint.

As long as you and the Augustus family are willing to accept us, we will follow His Excellency Oscar and the Augustus family after the defeat of the army; However, we also said in advance that no matter what happens, we will not participate in the battle against the Kingdom of Carthage! ”

Mahabal's words were very prosaic, not even emotional fluctuations; However, Oscar knows that these are Mahabal's heartfelt words and trustworthy promises.

Because Mahabal is not a Hush Duba, he is not an impulsive, irritable and irritable battlefield general, he is a general who can take charge of himself; His emotions are not too volatile, nor are they impulsive and irrational.

After having Mahabal's promise, Oscar immediately took a step forward, bent down and helped Mahabal up, and laughed and said:

"With the help of General Mahabar today, it is like adding another 50,000 troops to my Augustus family! Add to that the Generals Hush Duba and Theophanes, and that's an extra hundred thousand troops out of thin air; This is the true victory of our House Augustus!

Since you are already the generals of our House Augustus, then you are welcome; From now on, the army left behind by General Hannibal will independently form a whole new legion, which will be named Hannibal's Legion!

The commander of this new legion is you, General Mahabar! General Theophanes, you are the lieutenant general of this Hannibal's legion; General Huskidulba, you are the cavalry commander of the legion, and the three of you together lead this new legion! ”

Oscar's generosity not only exceeded the expectations of the generals of the Augustus family, but also shocked the three generals such as Mahabal; Originally, they thought that after they surrendered, they would have to return to the field or wait for the punishment of house arrest.

Unexpectedly, Oscar was so broad-minded; Not only did he not mind the battle between the two sides on the battlefield in the past, but he entrusted himself and the other three with important tasks on the spot, and let himself and others command Hannibal's old army. Such a move, how can the three of them not be grateful!

Unfortunately, before the three of them could react, the soldiers who were responsible for counting the casualties returned; As a result, the three Mahabals had to suppress their inner excitement and retreated to their original positions.

Oscar also sat back in his place and began to peruse the casualty statistics that had just been delivered; Fierce fighting inevitably brings brutal casualties. Even after witnessing the entire battle, Oscar couldn't believe that the casualties were so heavy!

Looking at the eyes of the generals below who were still full of expectation, Oscar sighed helplessly in his heart, and then pretended to be happy and said:

"Generals, today is the day of victory for our House Augustus! At the cost of more than 20,000 casualties, we completed the annihilation of Hannibal's army of 55,000; This is the glory that belongs to us House Augustus and to each and every one of you! ”

First of all, after saying this sentence of commendation, the faces of all the generals showed joy, and Oscar continued:

"In today's battle, our Augustus family has fought a total of five legions, namely the Guards Infantry Legion, the Guards Cavalry Legion, the Samonai Legion, the Second Legion, and the Seventh Legion; Among them, the specific casualties are as follows.

The Guards Infantry Corps, 5,000 infantry, 1,800 killed, 2,300 wounded, and 900 remaining soldiers; Guards Cavalry Corps, 5,000 cavalry, 900 killed, 1,200 wounded, and 2,900 soldiers remaining; Samonay's legion, seven thousand infantry, two thousand four hundred soldiers, seven hundred wounded, and three thousand nine hundred soldiers remaining.

The Second Army, 6,000 hoplites, 3,700 killed, 1,600 wounded, and 700 remaining soldiers; The 7th Army, 6,000 hoplites, 2,900 killed, 1,300 wounded, and 1,800 soldiers remained. As for the 4,000 lightly armed infantry of the two armies, 1,200 were killed, 200 wounded, and 2,600 remaining.

In the end, together with the three thousand javelinmen under my command, one thousand seventeen hundred were killed and eight hundred wounded, and only five hundred soldiers remained; In this battle, we suffered more than 22,700 casualties. At the time of the battle, our total strength was thirty-nine thousand five hundred; In other words, there are only 16,800 soldiers left who can still fight.

However, only 14,600 of our soldiers were actually killed, and those 8,100 wounded soldiers only needed careful treatment, and a considerable number of them could still return to the corps; After this battle, our Augustus family has risen! (To be continued.) )