Avversitàsaràsoloispirare, maanchenellaprosperitàriguarderàsolo (adversity inspires the general, good times cover up the general)

- Horace (one of the three great poets of ancient Rome)

On the 1st of September, the day after Oscar personally led the Guards to the port; Two clippers that had been cruising outside the port of Sardinia suddenly rushed back one after another to report an urgent military situation to Oscar. It turned out that a huge fleet suddenly appeared off the coast of Sardinia! It's not the fleet, it's the fleet!

The fleet not only has more than 30 transports of all kinds, but also a full 12 double-lined warships; The point is that all the ships did not fly any flags, which frightened everyone. You know, just three days ago, His Excellency Oscar Leader easily captured the port of Sardinia in this way.

So now, does the commander of this fleet want to emulate the way Oscar leaders fought and carry out another raid on the port of Sardinia? It didn't matter whether it was or not, Oscar had ordered the herald to return to Calaris immediately to deliver the news to Luquis; Luquis was also ordered to speed up the construction of the city walls and to prevent any possible crisis.

At the same time, the Cretan archers and slingers of all the Guards regiments were already lying in ambush outside the moorings of the harbor; As long as there is the slightest misdemeanor in this fleet after docking, they will give this fleet the first blow. Beyond these ambushes were the Spartan hoplites and Greek pikemen lined up near the moorings.

Oscar himself stood neatly cloaked next to the Spartan hoplites, and he wanted to see for himself what the uninvited fleet was up to. The huge fleet eventually stopped near the port of Sardinia, and then gradually turned towards the port mooring; The 12 twin battleships did not come with the transports to the mooring, but only cruised outside the harbor.

Even the large convoy of convoys did not all dock, and only five slightly larger cons approached the port first; After the transport ship came to a stop, the first thing that appeared was a group of Roman standard heavy infantry wearing red clothes and red armor! Looking at the soldiers of the Julius family (red Julius, blue Scipio, green Brutus, purple Maxentius) lined up on the deck of the transport, Oscar knew that they were coming.

Sure enough, the next red-armored general to appear was Oscar's old acquaintance, the former deputy general of the Bull Legion and the current commander of the Third Legion - Vibius Julius. The eyes of the two were firmly fixed on each other at the same time, and the smell of gunpowder in the air became stronger and stronger, and the soldiers on both sides also felt the emotions of the main general, and they all clenched the weapons in their hands, ready to attack each other at any time.

Suddenly, Vibius turned his gaze to the port ************** flag behind Oscar, laughed and said, "Your Excellency Oscar Leader is really an excellent general of the Republic!" Occupy Sardinia for the Republic so quickly! By the way, didn't you plan to launch an attack on Sardinia in September? Why is it so many days in advance? ”

In the face of Vibius's question, Oscar also replied loudly: "Your Excellency the Captain of the Vibius Legion has won the award!" I also deeply felt that Sardinia would pose a serious threat to the security of the republic in the hands of Carthage, so I led the wolf army to occupy Sardinia half a month in advance; I wonder why the commander of the Vibius army did not fight the Gallic army on the Gallic border, so he came to Sardinia? ”

Hearing Oscar's words, Vibius naturally didn't believe it, and just before Vibius went to sea, he received the latest news about the Augustus family; Before August 20th, the Augustan army did not go to sea at all, both the Wolf Legion and the First Legion were training in the Latin Province, and the noise in the barracks could not hide the family spies.

However, it is also true that the Augustans had already occupied Sardinia; The only question now is when exactly the Augustians occupied Sardinia, and how many Augustus troops there are in Sardinia now. You must know that your plan for this raid on Sardinia is based on the fact that the Sardinian defenders are weak Hamarca legions and not elite wolf legions!

Therefore, he only brought half an army of Bull Legion soldiers, which was brought after considering the possible counteroffensive of Carthage. Otherwise, the recruits of the Third Legion, with at most half of the legion, would have dared to guarantee that they would defeat the Hamarca legion and occupy Sardinia. Carthage today is no longer the Mediterranean hegemon of ten or twenty years ago; Except for a façade-propelled Hannibal, Carthage has no more incompetent people!

Even a small kingdom like Numidia dared to challenge Carthage, let alone the great Roman Republic! For the republic, as long as it does not encounter Hannibal's legions, Carthage is fat to the mouth; Therefore, this time the Julius family decided to take the risk and take the risk of completely offending the Maxentius family to occupy Sardinia before the Augustus family.

As long as Sardinia is occupied, the Julius family, who occupy the northern part of the Republic, will be able to put their hands into the Mediterranean Sea and share in the feast of Carthage with other powers! Otherwise, the wealth and territory accumulated by Carthage over a hundred years would only be cheaper than the small kingdoms of Scipio and Numidia; The Julius family had no choice but to put their future into an endless war with the Gallic barbarians.

However, all this presupposes that his family occupies Sardinia before the rest of the Republic; Now that Sardinia has been occupied, what should I do? Anyway, the Augustus family is not among the four major families, or do you directly annihilate all the Augustus family troops on the island and snatch Sardinia from the Augustus family? The question is, how many troops do they have on the island?

Suddenly, Vibius spotted a problem; That is, there is not even a single worker in the whole port! Sardinia is one of the most important islands in the Mediterranean, and even if there are fewer ships coming and going because of the war, it is impossible to work without workers in the port; The only explanation is that there has been a war in Sardinia recently, and the Augustus family must have occupied Sardinia in five days, otherwise the port of Sardinia could not be so quiet!

Moreover, the army of wolves must not be in Sardinia! Otherwise, it must be the Wolf Legion that appears in front of him, not the Spartan heavy infantry in front of him. There is no doubt that the combat effectiveness of the Spartan heavy infantry was above that of the Roman legions, especially in such a narrow place, the Spartan heavy infantry was even more complete than the Roman heavy infantry under the same number; However, there was no suspense in the war of just more than 200 Spartan hoplites and more than 2,000 elite Roman legions.

Thinking of this, Vibius said to Oscar with a smile on his face: "Presumably, Your Excellency the Oscar Leader, you also know that the Gauls sent Lugotorix's expeditionary corps to strengthen the strength of Gallic and Veneto in the mountains, and our Julius family is really unable to launch a war against the Regulian Kingdom under such high pressure. In order to open up the situation, the family decided to send me to lead the bull army to attack the free city-state of Marseille in Gaul outside the mountains.

It was only after the capture of Gaul beyond the mountains that it was possible for the family to attack Gaul from both flanks and expel Gaul from the north of the republic in one fell swoop; Otherwise, the northern part of the republic would never have been able to sleep under the invasion of Gaul. Unexpectedly, after going to sea, my fleet encountered an ocean storm; I had no choice but to sail south to avoid the storm, and I ended up in Sardinia. “

Vibius's hypocrisy made Oscar scoff, but Oscar couldn't expose him; Once he turns his face, the strength in his hands is not enough for the Bulls to stuff their teeth. Even half a bull army can deal a fatal blow to the army of the House of Augustus in a short time; At that time, all the follow-up plans of the family will be disrupted. So, Oscar also asked hypocritically: "Now that the storm is over, and the fleet of Lord Vibius is safe; For the sake of your family, you should hurry north and attack the city-state of Marseille. Otherwise, if the Gallic barbarians take the lead in attacking the north of the republic, it will be more than worth the loss. The soldiers are fast, I will not leave Your Excellency, Your Excellency should hurry up, next time I come to Sardinia I will do my best to fulfill the friendship of the landlord. “

Who knows, Vibius actually hit the snake and said: "Hahahaha, how can I refuse the enthusiasm of His Excellency Oscar?" What's not next time, I think this time is very suitable! It just so happened that my fleet had lost a lot of fresh water during the voyage and needed to be replenished in Sardinia; Originally, I thought that there was a solution by force, but now that Sardinia is part of the republic, presumably His Excellency Oscar will not refuse my soldiers to go ashore to resupply, right? “

Vibius's half-explanation, half-threatening words made Oscar's nerves tense, things were not good today; Vibius seems to have seen his own external strength, and if he insists on refusing, Vibius is very likely to lead the Bull Army to force his way ashore!

Even a sudden blow from the Cretan archers could inflict heavy losses on the first landing soldiers of the Bull Legion. However, in the next battle, the Bull Legion will definitely break out with a stronger fighting force; The attacks of archers and slingers were limited, and Spartan hoplites and Greek pikemen, numbering less than 500 men, could not hold back half an army of bulls.

What to do? What to do? What to do? The expressionless Oscar was also anxious in his heart, looking at Vibius who was smiling and waiting for his answer, Oscar was so eager to see the fleet of the Richard family for the first time!