The best way to avenge yourself is not to become like the one who did evil to you. ＠，

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

During Hannibal's return to Carthage on a warship, it was inevitable that he would learn about the current situation of Carthage and the current situation between the Numidian army and Carthage through the emissary; The envoy not only unreservedly told Hannibal all about the predicament of Carthage, but also told Hannibal about the performance of the Numidian army in the Kingdom of Tripoli that he knew. The three most important of these were the annihilation of 25,000 troops on the border of Tulguta, the surprise attack of Vimyna, and the surrender of Leptis without a fight.

With the exception of the last thing, Hannibal was not at all indifferent, the first two things caused Hannibal to think deeply; More than 70,000 of Zuguta's 100,000-strong Numidian army were newly recruited, and their infantry was not as well equipped and trained as Carthaginian's. However, the cavalry of the Numidian army was not to be underestimated; Just the more than 20,000 cavalry under the command of Tulguta annihilated the 5,000 elites and 20,000 recruits of the Tripoli Kingdom in one charge, and I have to say that these cavalry are very strong in combat!

As a military commander who had been on a war for many years and had fought numerous battles with the Romans; Hannibal knew that one of his greatest dependencies for victory was his elite army. And the infantry in this so-called elite regiment is not very good, and it is always the cavalry that acts as the main force; Needless to say, among these cavalry belonging to Hannibal, the mercenary cavalry from Numidia was also the absolute main force.

What is Hired Cavalry? It was Hannibal's own mercenaries who went to the nomadic tribes of Numidia who lived in difficulty; In other words, the so-called newly formed cavalry in the Numidian army was comparable in combat effectiveness to the Numidian mercenary cavalry. Although Hannibal's mercenary cavalry was the absolute elite that had gradually formed after countless wars, their combat effectiveness was not weak at the beginning; At least compared to the average recruit. Their combat effectiveness is basically tantamount to that of battle-hardened veterans.

This means that the 20,000 cavalry of the southern army led by Tuguta himself is an extremely powerful force; Whether it is the 5,000 elite shield cavalry belonging to the Ahmet Legion, or the 4,000 elite cavalry belonging to the Jugurdah Legion, and even the 12,000 javelin cavalry newly recruited by Tulguta, they are not weak opponents. Frankly speaking, Hannibal's own cavalry never exceeded 10,000; Even so, these powerful cavalry made Hannibal the name of the god of war.

It is undeniable that Hannibal's own abilities are extraordinary. But one cannot fail to consider the great role of the cavalry; The Roman Republic is a typical example, since the cavalry legions of the Roman Republic were annihilated by Hannibal, which Roman army was not crushed by Hannibal's cavalry in the following major wars. If it weren't for Hannibal's absolute superiority in cavalry, the Roman army would not have been defeated every time, let alone lost miserably every time; Such is the power of cavalry.

As for the Senate's fact that it was only now beginning to recruit cavalry, Hannibal seemed to him utterly stupid; The people of the Carthage land were basically arable farmers, and nomadic tribes were not without them, but the number and quality of the herders were far worse than those of the Numidians. At this time, the war had developed to such a point, and the army of Numidia had reached the door of Carthage, and the senators of the Senate remembered to recruit cavalry. It's simply too late in time; In Hannibal's view, it was nothing more than a search for self-comfort.

The only thing that pleased Hannibal was the performance of General Vermina; Hannibal didn't know much about General Vermina, but he was known for a long time. Before Hannibal returned to Carthage with his army from the Iberian Peninsula to fight Rome, General Vermina was an excellent general of the Carthaginian kingdom; Although the Carthaginian army was still defeated by the Romans on the battlefield, General Vermina was always able to surprise and surprise the Romans.

Even from a certain point of view, before Hannibal was born, the reason why the Kingdom of Carthage was able to be defeated repeatedly on the battlefield without losing the country and land was because of the support of General Verminia; With one unexpected attack after another and an incomparable defensive ability, General Vermina was called "General Ironwall" by the people of Carthage at that time. And his opponents called him a "sneak general". Later, with the birth of Hannibal; It took Hannibal's numerous victories to overshadow Vermygna's fame.

Even so. The prestige of the general Vermina in the Carthaginian land was also very great; Otherwise, how could the Senate of Carthage have always allowed Vimina to serve as the general guard of the Carthage lands. To be sure, Hannibal felt like a formidable attacker on the battlefield; Victoria's Secret was a rock-solid defender on the battlefield, and it was impossible to tell which of the two was stronger or weaker, but Hannibal felt that it was difficult for him to break through the defensive position of General Vermyna with the same size of troops.

In this Numidian War, Vermina once again proved herself on the battlefield; With a mere 5,000 troops, he dared to attack the 100,000-strong army of Tulguta. This is something that ordinary generals dare not think of. What is even more commendable is that General Verminia, with his careful arrangement and grasp of the details of the battlefield, caused nearly 20,000 casualties to the Numidian army with the loss of only 1,000 cavalry; Not to mention the comparison of the troop losses of the two sides in this sneak attack, in terms of morale alone, it was also a fatal blow to the Numidian army.

Hannibal himself was not particularly good at defending and sneaking up on the commander. Rather, they are accustomed to conducting large-scale decisive battles on the battlefield; Although Hannibal always defeated the strong with an absolutely weak force, the method adopted was generally a head-to-head engagement. Hannibal can also do defensive operations and sneak attacks like Victoria's Secret, but he definitely doesn't do as well as Victoria's Secret; So, before returning to Carthage, Hannibal had already decided to let Vimini play a greater role in this war.

Of course, Hannibal's decision was not only contributed to General Vermina's performance on the battlefield, but also his selflessness in the Senate; There has never been any intersection between Hannibal and Vermyna, and the only possible connection is probably that Hannibal's appearance stole the limelight from Vermina. However, at the time of Carthage's life and death, General Vermina pleaded with the Senate several times to recall Hannibal, and Hannibal was also told by the messenger; This made Hannibal, who was also a patriot, have a good impression of General Vermyna.

The speed of the fleet was not supposed to be very fast. But it may be that God helps Carthage; The Mediterranean Sea was smooth sailing when the envoys traveled from Carthage to Sicily, and now it was smooth sailing when Hannibal returned to Carthage with his army. The voyage, which could have taken days, was cut in half; At this time, the Numidian army led by Zuguta on the battlefield of the southern Carthaginian front was still five days' way from the Carthaginian province of Baisassien.

In other words, the Great Leptis is located in the north-central part of the kingdom of Tripoli, and is too far away from the province of Baissasien in Carthage; Coupled with the fact that the infantry in the Numidian army had a very limited speed of marching, this was already the fastest speed that Zuguta could do. Tulguta could not afford to leave all the slow infantry behind. lead only the cavalry against the Carthaginian lands; The cavalry's field combat ability is unmatched, but no one can launch an attack on the city wall with cavalry!

It also means that in the race against time between the two sides; The Kingdom of Carthage was superior to the Kingdom of Numidia. Of course, this was better than not only Hannibal's early return to Carthage, but also the lead of General Vermina; Although General Verminia's power was very limited, he still strengthened Tapsus even more impregnable. In order to seize the opportunity of a possible sneak attack and a possible counteroffensive in the future, General Vermina also sent General Himika to command his 4,000 troops to Qusser, a military town in central Baisasian, to garrison.

Qusel is a small town located just ten miles from Tapsus; The city was the most fortified military town in the central part of the province of Baisassien, with the exception of the capital Tapsus, and it contained enough military supplies to support an army of 10,000 for two years. In order to better defend Tapsus and defend against the attacks of the Numidian army; Vimil's forces had to disperse his forces and hand over his elite army of 4,000 to Himika to garrison Qusel. In this way, the two cities can form a corner. It is not so easy to be attacked by the Numidian army; But such an arrangement was also easy to be broken by the Numidian army one by one, and everything had to be supported by General Himika himself.

On this side, General Vermina was still actively preparing for battle, and Tulguta also led the army to continue forward; And our consul Hannibal has finally returned to Carthage! When Hannibal and Mahabal arrived not far from the city of Carthage with two thousand Iberian infantry, all the senators of the Carthaginian Senate had already gathered at the gates of Carthage to meet Hannibal; He was accompanied by countless citizens of Carthage who had organized themselves in the city of Carthage.

It was an eventful year for the people of Carthage; Since the Kingdom of Carthage confronted the Kingdom of Numidia in the south, which was preparing to attack the Kingdom of Tripoli, the situation of the entire Kingdom of Carthage was not optimistic. With the official outbreak of war, the advance of the Numidian army meant that the situation of the Carthaginian kingdom was becoming more and more dire; When the king of the Kingdom of Tripoli came to Carthage with the royal family, everyone knew that the Kingdom of Tripoli was over. The kingdom of Numidia was soon about to attack Carthage.

No matter how many times Carthage had lost to the Romans before, and no matter how many years Carthage had lost its hegemony in the Mediterranean; At least for the general public. The glorious history of the Carthage land, which has not been set foot by the enemy for hundreds of years, has not changed. Now, everything had changed, and rumors that the Numidian army would soon be in the city had long been in the city of Carthage; Just when this person was panicking, the hero of Carthage, Hannibal, the god of war who had defeated the enemy countless times on the battlefield and never failed, returned!

At this time, the return of the Carthaginian people to Hannibal was like a savior; In the eyes of ordinary Carthaginian people. As long as the invincible god of war Hannibal can return to Carthage to deal with the Numidian army, then the victory will ultimately belong to the Kingdom of Carthage. So, when the senators of the Senate went out of the city to meet Hannibal; The people of Carthage also spontaneously came to greet their great hero, Hannibal, the god of war of Carthage!

Looking at the black crowd in front of him, Hannibal asked Mahabal to lead 2,000 infantry from the east to the Carthaginian camp and station; And he himself led hundreds of cavalry guards to gallop forward (Carthage was the same as Rome). The capital is not allowed to garrison troops). looked at Hannibal, who was majestic under the escort of the cavalry, and did not wait for the senators of the senate to speak; The crowd that greeted Hannibal erupted in enthusiastic cheers, and people shouted Hannibal's name in unison to show their welcome and worship for Hannibal.

"Hannibal! Hannibal! ......" was such a warm and neat cry that moved Hannibal to the feeling of wanting to burst into tears; At this moment, Hannibal felt that all he had done for Carthage was worth it. The senators of the senate bent themselves in the midst of this great cheer, and Hannibal on his horse was in stark contrast to the trembling senators; The Hannibal is even more majestic and powerful!

Eventually, the cheering crowd fell silent at Hannibal's initiative; Looking at the faces of the patriarchs in front of him who were pale with fear, and then at the flushed faces of the crowd in front of him. Hannibal drew his short sword, pointed it in the direction of Numidia, and shouted: "People of Carthage, I am Hannibal, and I am back; I promise you that I will destroy all enemies for you with my sword! Long live Carthage! (To be continued.) )