Real gold is refined in the flames, and courage is cultivated in difficulties!

- Seneca (famous Stoic philosopher of ancient Roman times)

In fact, on the very first day of the official retreat of the Numidian army led by Zuguta, Juguda knew about Zuguta's actions; I also understood Tulguta's intentions. However, Jugurdah was not willing to retreat in vain; Therefore, he pretended not to know, and still stationed near Qusayr with his army of 4,000.

Of course, Jugurdah didn't want to fight the main forces of Baisasian and Carthage; Zuguta was able to receive the news that the army on the western front of Numidia had been annihilated and that Hannibal was leading his army south, and Juguda could naturally receive it. But the crux of the matter is that Juguda is really unwilling to go back.

The reason why Juguda gave up his position as king and led the Saharan people to merge into the Numidian Kingdom was to further develop the Sahara while temporarily avoiding the edge of the Numidian Kingdom; Later, after receiving the order of Zuguta, Juguda resolutely led the whole Saharan army to support the Numidian army, also in order to get a share of his own soup in the feast of Carthage.

But what about the result? In addition to the conquest of the Kingdom of Tripoli by relying on the absolute superiority of the troops, does the Numidian army have any other achievements? A surprise attack on Viminia inflicted heavy casualties on the entire Numidian army; Even the 100 most elite war elephants under his command were all killed, is there anything more tragic than this?

It would be enough if in the end the kingdom of Numidia won the war; Then Jugurdah can also recover his losses in the rich land of Carthage, and make a lot of money. But what about reality? The armies of the Kingdom of Numidia not only did not win the war, but were about to lose it; Moreover, he lost the war with an extremely ridiculous record.

On the southern front, the 40,000-strong Numidian army was unable to take down Tapsus, which was defended by less than 20,000 men, and paid several times the price of casualties among the enemy; On the Western Front, the 35,000 Numidian army was easily wiped out by Hannibal's equal number of troops, and even the capital and capital province of the Kingdom of Numidia were lost.

The war went on to this point in the field. The kingdom of Numidia and Thuguta have lost their strength; And what about Jugudah? He did nothing, but followed Zuguta's army from the province of Gaturia in Numidia, all the way through the kingdom of Tripoli, and finally to Baisassion in Carthage; And the price paid for this is a full hundred war elephants and a thousand elites of the Saharan kingdom!

Not bad. the kingdom of the Sahara, not the province of the Sahara; The reason why Jugurdah insisted on not retreating now was to surrender to Hannibal after Hannibal's army entered Baisasian!

The geographical location of the Sahara determined that the Sahara could not become a prosperous region, and the Numidians had no intention of subjugating the Sahara; It is even more unlikely that the Carthaginians would have traveled from the northernmost tip of North Africa to the southernmost tip of North Africa to trouble the Sahara. More crucially, the vast deserts of the Sahara were unwilling for the Carthaginians to tread; That was enough for Jugurdah to throw himself at Hannibal.

In Juguda's opinion. This war between the kingdoms of Numidia and Carthage ended with the final victory of the Carthaginian kingdom; It is also impossible for the Kingdom of Carthage to truly completely annex the entire Kingdom of Numidia. War is never just a matter of armies, but a contest and struggle between two countries; It is also a contest and struggle between the two nations.

Even if Hannibal relied on his powerful army to complete the occupation of the entire kingdom of Numidia, it was impossible for him to always have a large army stationed in a certain region or in the territory of Numidia; Once the Carthaginian army left the occupied territory, would the unruly and troublesome Numidian nomadic tribes be safe and secure under Carthaginian rule?

It's definitely impossible! As soon as the Carthaginian army left, the area that had been part of the kingdom of Numidia would once again be in smoke; The limited army and financial resources of the Carthaginian kingdom will be mired in the quagmire of the Numidian rebellion. Therefore, Jugurdah believed that with Hannibal's wisdom, he could not have really conquered the entire kingdom of Numidia.

With the strength and heritage of the Kingdom of Carthage, at most, the Kingdom of Tripoli was annexed as a province of its own; This is also to better protect the back garden of the Carthaginian kingdom, rather than simply expanding the land. The entire North African region. The most prosperous places are the provinces of Afrika and Baisasian in Carthage and the province of Numidia in Numidia; Others are simply not worth mentioning.

As for how the Kingdom of Carthage and Hannibal would deal with the Kingdom of Numidia, Jugurdah believes that the greatest possibility is to divide and weaken; As long as Hannibal divided the complete Numidian kingdom into several small kingdoms with small lands, the Numidian kingdom could no longer be a rival to the Carthaginian kingdom in the future, and this was the best way to ensure the Carthaginian kingdom's hegemony in North Africa.

Based on this consideration, Juguda felt that this was his chance; The barren land, the sparse population, the scarce resources, and the vast desert of the Sahara Kingdom are the greatest drawbacks, but also the greatest advantages. It is precisely because of all the disadvantages of the Sahara that Hannibal and the Kingdom of Carthage will not pay attention to the Sahara and will be willing to give the Sahara a chance to expand.

Jugurdah was also not very ambitious, as long as he could take the province of Caturia in the kingdom of Numidia; This would greatly weaken the Kingdom of Numidia strategically, without worrying that the Kingdom of the Sahara would become strong with these two provinces. Wouldn't it be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone? But is Jugurdah's idea really Hannibal's?

Now Hannibal does not know Juguda's wishful thinking, and he is still immersed in the grief of the loss of two younger brothers; Even though Hannibal appeared to be incomprehensibly leading three legions to continue southward, the grief in his heart could not be explained in words. Hannibal's army after entering the territory of Baisassion. He received information from the scouts about the retreat of the Numidian army; Hannibal immediately made targeted arrangements.

First of all, Hannibal ordered the scouts to intensify their reconnaissance of the movements of the Numidian army, and they must always report the direction and possible destination of the Numidian army's withdrawal; In addition to this, Hannibal ordered Kelimis to lead his own 10,000 shielded cavalry to recover all the cities north of Baisasine that had been captured by the Numidians, and instructed him to be careful not to fall into the Numidian ambush.

Afterwards. In order to ensure the safety of Tapsus, Hannibal directly ordered Gisken to immediately go to Tapsus with 10,000 long shield cavalry under his command to rush to Vimyna. Before Gisken left, Hannibal also instructed him; Once you reach Tapsus, you just have to stick to Tapsus with Vimyna. No matter what happened to the Numidian army, it was not allowed to pursue it without permission.

At the same time, Hannibal himself marched in the direction of Qusel with Sakab and the Legion of the Ten Thousand Saints; According to the latest reports from the scouts, the Juguda legion besieging Qusayr did not retreat with the main Numidian army of Thuguta. This is worth thinking about Hannibal, is there anything hidden in this?

Hannibal did not believe that Jugurdah had stayed behind to stop the Carthaginian pursuers, and if that were the case, Jugurdah's legion would have been outside the city of Thapsus, not outside the city of Quselle; More critically. Jugurdah was no ordinary Numidian general, and his legions were no ordinary Numidian legions.

When the Kingdom of Carthage ruled all of North Africa, the Sahara was not a province of the Kingdom of Numidia, but a kingdom of the same status as the Kingdom of Numidia; No matter how different the strength of the two kingdoms is, they are at least equal in status. Could it be that Jugurdah, as the king of the Sahara, willingly became the governor of Numidia? It's not a small thing!

In fact, up to now, Hannibal had not yet figured out what to do with the defeated kingdom of Numidia; If the Carthaginian kingdom were to annex the entire Numidian kingdom, it would be a great deal of harm to the Carthaginian kingdom itself. From now on, the Carthaginian kingdom not only had to spend a lot of money to build the impoverished Numidian region, but also had to guard against Numidian rebellions at all times.

In Hannibal's opinion. These problems are not impossible to solve; Just give yourself and your army five years; He can help the Kingdom of Carthage to annex the entire Kingdom of Numidia smoothly. However, the Romans could not have given the Kingdom of Carthage such a chance; They will do whatever it takes to stop this from happening.

Once he incorporated the entire kingdom of Numidia into the Kingdom of Carthage, he was unable to withdraw from the affairs of Rome to deal with the pressure; Then it would only take three years at most for the Carthaginian kingdom to lose these occupied Numidian regions, and even lead to the instability of the Carthaginian lands.

More importantly, even if the Romans did not come to Hannibal's trouble, Hannibal would not have spared the House of Augustus; As soon as the war in North Africa ended, Hannibal would return to Sicily to avenge his two younger brothers. Therefore, the plan to annex the kingdom of Numidia by force was not feasible. Also Hannibal will not implement.

Apart from the occupation of the whole kingdom of Numidia by force, the most convenient and simple solution to the Numidian question once and for all is to divide Numidia into kingdoms altogether; In this way, the kingdom of Numidia could no longer be restored and no longer be an opponent of the kingdom of Carthage.

back then. The measure taken by the Kingdom of Carthage against the Kingdom of Numidia in its heyday was to divide and rule; The entire Numidian kingdom was divided into two tribes, who became stronger, and there was a trend of unifying the Numidian kingdom, the Carthaginian kingdom would take the initiative to suppress him and vigorously support another weak tribe, which gave rise to the weakness and peace of the Numidian kingdom for hundreds of years.

Afterward. With the increasing decline of the Carthaginian kingdom, the merger of the two tribes appeared, which led to the ambition of the Numidian kingdom to compete with the Carthaginian kingdom; So, fundamentally, the best way to weaken the kingdom of Numidia is to divide and suppress it, so that the maximum result can be obtained at the lowest cost.

Because human nature is greedy, Hannibal believed that no ordinary person would easily give up his power and allegiance to another person after he became king. And in order to truly complete this plan, it is necessary not only to defeat the last main army of Numidia, but also to completely destroy Zuguta!

Tulguta does not die, once the divided kingdom of Numidia is bullied, they will definitely give up the blame for Tulguta, and instead miss the kingdom of Numidia during the time of Tulguta; Therefore, in order to completely break the thoughts of the Numidians, it is necessary to completely destroy the Zuguta!

As for Juguda, if he had behaved well, Hannibal would not mind propping up a pawn; If his ambition is too great, or if his performance is not so satisfying, then Hannibal will not mind adding a new tomb in front of Zuguta's tomb, and it will all depend on Juguda's own performance.

Now that Jugurdah had decided to surrender to Hannibal, it was naturally impossible for him to continue to embarrass the defenders of the city of Quselle; However, he did not dare to stay away from his garrison without permission. Although Shimika and Shimiko trapped in the city of Qusel were unaware of the changes in the overall situation, they would not waste the opportunity to kill and injure the Jugurdah Legion in vain.

The lesson of Zhu Guda's stealing of chickens and rice was deep enough, and he did not intend to have another battle like this when he was preparing to surrender; Otherwise, even if his own legion did not suffer many casualties, Qusel's defenders would not easily let themselves go after the arrival of Hannibal's reinforcements.

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