Rispettoalsonno, l'amore, ilcantoeladanza, èfacileperlaguerral'uomoannoiato (war is easier for humans to enjoy than sleep, love, singing and dancing)

- Homer (ancient Greek blind poet, author of the Homeric epics)

In the end, it was Marcus who said helplessly: "We still failed, and Hannibal once again established his own status as the god of war with the blood of the Romans." Sevious leaned back in his chair weakly, and said with empty eyes: "It is not terrible that we have failed, but what is terrible is that we have failed three times in a row; We've lost everything. ”

Even Decius had to admit: "Call an emergency senate at once; We've lost everything. The only thing that can be done now is to do everything possible to remedy it. Even at the expense of everything, we cannot afford to lose the republic in our hands; We can't let the Carthaginians defeat us Romans easily! ”

At this moment, Decius finally became himself, he finally stood up at a time of unprecedented crisis in Rome; He was the high priest of the Roman Republic, the closest person to the Roman gods, and he was to protect Rome at this time. Immediately, Decius took his two sons and one son-in-law to the Senate meeting hall; Soon, a huge bell rang throughout the city of Rome.

All the Romans, when they heard the bell, stopped what they were doing and stood still and listened; Because the Romans knew that the Senate would ring the bell of this crisis whenever the most urgent thing happened. 18 sounds, indicating a major event; 24 tones, indicating urgent matters; 36 tones, indicating extraordinarily large affairs; 48 tones, indicating 100,000 urgent affairs; The highest 60 voices indicate that the time has come for Rome to live and die. And at this moment, one after another; That's exactly 60 bells!

600 senators of the Senate, wherever they may be; After hearing these 60 bells, he immediately began to rush towards the Senate meeting hall. Romans of all stripes, young and old, rich and poor, flocked to the square in front of the Senate; However, the entrance path that belonged to the patriarchs was automatically avoided by everyone. No one wants to delay the senators of the Senate from contributing to the republic at this moment.

When all 600 veterans entered the conference hall, the square outside the conference hall was also filled with black crowds. However, both on and off the field; It's all quiet at the moment. The people inside the conference hall waited for Decius, who was already standing on the podium, to announce the news, while the people outside the conference hall silently waited for the outcome of the Senate meeting.

Looking at the anxious senators below, Decius mustered all his strength and began to read Messina's urgent report little by little. A mere hundred and eight crosses, but it was read by Decius for a full five minutes; The elders below are also dead silent. No one thought that the Armageddon, which was originally nine out of ten, would be turned into a turnaround battle by Hannibal; After this battle, the Romans have basically completely lost the capital that is hostile to Carthage, and will even face the crisis of national ruin.

After Decius finished reading; Marcus, the consul of the Republic, began to step forward and said to all the senators, "Elders of the republic; Now, the republic has reached the point of life and death. The loss of the five legions and the two recruit legions created a huge hole in the Republic's strength; However, this is not the most terrible. We have already called up five legions of recruits before, and we will urgently recruit five more legions soon; In this way, the recruits of ten legions, plus the remaining three legions. Losses and holes in terms of forces are something we can make up for. ”

Marcus was just halfway through his sentence when Marius, who had always been silent, stood up and said, "Our main problem is not just the loss of troops; Even if we lost seven of the most elite corps. We can still make up for the loss of troops by recruiting a large number of recruits and rapidly expanding the number of legions. If there are not enough recruits from ten legions, ten more will be recruited; The millions of Romans in the Latin provinces are the strongest foundation of our republic.

However, the loss of excellent generals is something that we will not be able to make up for a while; In this tragic Armageddon, a total of ten generals were killed in our Republic. This includes the four remaining generals of the Republic: Scipio the Elder, Paulus, Nucias, and Severia; and the six best captains: Iulianus, Kaisso, Lucius, Amrius, Gaius, and Belis.

Such a mass mass of general casualties is unprecedented in the history of the Republic; Even if we could recruit dozens of new legions, where would we find so many good generals to serve as legion commanders? Without sufficient weapons and equipment, without rich experience in warfare, there are no good corps commanders; Then, our army of recruits will be an easy battle for the enemy on the battlefield. ”

After saying this, Marius sat back in his place, and Marcus continued: "Marius's words are very reasonable, and our biggest problem now is the lack of a large number of good generals to serve as army commanders. Oscar, the leader of the Augustan family, and Quintus, the leader of the Boar Legion, who broke through the Armageddon, can serve as the commanders of the two legions, but what about the rest of the legions? ”

Marcus gestured with his eyes to the patriarchs below, and everyone could speak their minds boldly; And the patriarchs who have always been boastful have chosen to shut up here. After all, this is a matter of life and death for the republic; No one dares to casually say that some people who don't know what to call go up. Suddenly, an unknown patriarch raised his right hand; Then, standing up and saying:

"I can recommend three qualified commanders: the first is Luquis of the House of Augustus, who has always been known for his bravery and skillful warfare, and is naturally able to take on this great responsibility; The second was the Archon Marius, who had been the Legion Commander of the Legion of the Eagle for a long time before becoming Consul, and was also a qualified and excellent Legion Commander. The third is Sprius of the Scipio family, General Sprius is an excellent general trained by the old Scipio General, and he can fully serve as the commander of the legion. ”

The senator's well-organized analysis immediately reminded Marcus of the three men; Indeed, as the patriarch had said, these three were capable enough to take on the position of Legion Commander. So, Marcus agreed: "Okay! These three will also serve as new corps commanders; However, considering the special status of His Excellency Marius and the needs of the current war. After his tenure as Legionnaire, His Excellency Marius will continue to serve as an administrator; If there are any good candidates for others, don't hide them, just say them quickly. ”

Another patriarch raised his right hand, stood up, and said, "I also recommend two qualified legion commanders: the first is General Gallerius of the House of Julius, and the second is General Gnaeus of the House of Brutus; These two generals have long served as lieutenants of the Legion of Horses and the Bulls, and they are also battle-hardened generals. In terms of qualifications and ability, they are enough to be qualified for the post of corps commander. “

After saying this, Marius stood up again uncharacteristically and said, "I also have two young men here who can also serve as the commander of the legion; Moreover, they are also familiar people. One is Antony, known as the Roman prodigal, and the other is Octavian, known as the Roman reader; Although both of them have some more or less problems in terms of personality or conduct, their abilities and talents are also outstanding.

Even the previous conqueror, General Scipio, praised the two men for their future aura of even greater glory than that of their conquerors; So, I don't think we need to worry about these trivial details in times of crisis. As long as we can keep our republic, we will make use of whatever is available; And not just the form. “

Speaking of this, the patriarchs below naturally let out a buzzing discussion; Octavian was okay, Antony's reputation was just too stinky. He is basically a combination of a gambler, a drunkard and a prostitute; His misdeeds in Rome could even be written in a book. Therefore, everyone still can't accept him as the commander of the legion for a while.

Seeing that the scene had begun to become chaotic, Decius once again stood on the central podium; After signaling everyone to be quiet, Decius spoke calmly, "Actually, our priority now is not to select a large number of legion commanders; Rather, it is necessary to analyze the situation facing the republic. After all seven elite legions were annihilated by Hannibal, the Republic was left with only three legions on the border.

The First Legion of House Augustus is now stationed on the island of Sardinia, having previously conquered Sardinia; The third legion of the House of Julius confronted the Gallic barbarians in the north; The Fifth Legion of the Brutus family guarded the southern part of the Republic step by step. However, the enemies and potential enemies faced by the Republic at this time are full of four major forces.

First of all, Carthage, after Hannibal's great victory, was sure to take advantage of the situation to occupy the province of Upper Sicilia of the Republic and Greater Sicily of the Greek city-states. All of Sicily would become Hannibal's domain; However, Hannibal would never have launched a war against the Republic itself until the worries of Sardinia were completely resolved and a powerful navy had been developed. Because Hannibal is not a desperate war maniac, he will only attack the Republic itself when he is ready; Therefore, as long as Sardinia continues to strengthen its military and build a stronger navy, the Republic itself will be safe.

The premise of all this, of course, is that Sardinia is firmly in the hands of the Republic; Otherwise, once after Hannibal occupied Sardinia. The Republic will completely lose all naval footholds outside its homeland, and Carthage will build a navy that is stronger than the Republic at a rate of several times; At that time, it will be the day when the republic will truly die. No matter how many recruits there are, they are just lambs to the slaughter in front of Hannibal's elite legions. Do you think this is the case with the number one enemy of this republic? ”

The words of the high priest Decius naturally won the unanimous approval of all the senators, and even Marcus and Sevius were shocked by their father's sudden wisdom.