The lighter the taste, the better the fragrance.

- Plautus (the most important comedy writer of ancient Rome)

Aulus's words were true, but his brother Vibius was the first to stand up against his brother; When Vibius had finished speaking, he stood up and asked his brother, "Big brother, if you really go out according to your ideas; So what about our homeland? Is it just a matter of ignoring it? ”

Instead of being annoyed that his brother had stood up and questioned him, Aulus shook his head helplessly and replied, "Vibius, we don't care about our own homeland, but we have to make our own choice between our homeland and the Greek peninsula. If we want to protect our homeland in a foolproof way, then we should not go on a campaign; It was only necessary to put the strong forces of the ten legions on the mainland.

Guarded by the strength of ten legions, Marius and Scipio would not dare to act rashly in any case; However, we, the Brutus family, will also lose all opportunities for expansion, and eventually disappear in the long history of the Roman Republic. For while we were guarding our homeland, both the House of Julius and the House of Augustus were struggling to expand their spheres of influence.

Now, the House of Julius has successfully expanded its sphere of influence eastward, and the number of provinces under its family has reached a staggering seven; And the House of Augustus, although not as exaggerated as the House of Julius, also had the territory of three provinces. Once the Augustans successfully implemented their strategy of Sicily, they would also own six provinces.

And what about us? We are only holding the homeland of the two provinces, can we still resist the strong attack of these two families in the future? If we Brutus want to become the main power of Rome in the future, we must give up a corner of our own two provinces; Venture into the wider and richer Greek peninsula and create a new world for our Brutus family there!

As long as we can concentrate our strength and conquer the kingdom of Epirus, then we can easily take the kingdom of Dalmatia in the west of the kingdom of Epirus; After that, we, the Brutus, were able to use these two new provinces as a springboard to choose whether to attack the Macedonian kingdom first or go to war with the Greek city-states first.

Neither the Macedonian kingdom nor the fragmented Greek city-states were enough to withstand the mighty legions of our Brutus family; At that time, as long as we are steady, we can annex the entire Greek peninsula and the Macedonian kingdom in just a few years. After we have integrated the entire territory of the Greek peninsula and the Kingdom of Macedonia, who will be qualified to be our enemy?

Even if Marius and Scipio had attacked us as we expanded, we could have lost the two provinces of our own country to them; In the end, they could control only ten provinces, and we could even get ten provinces in the Greek Peninsula and the Macedonian kingdom, and they would be richer, more valuable, and more populous! ”

This bitter talk of Aulus did not fully convince his brother Vibius, who simply asked calmly: "What if our so-called great forces did not succeed in defeating Pyrus and his kingdom of Epirus?" Then when we are defeated by the Kingdom of Epirus, we may also be in danger of losing our family homeland! ”

Vibius's rebuttal is not unreasonable; However, this time there was no need for Aulus to explain anything, and Tiberius stood up and said with a solemn face: "Vibius, you have to understand one thing; Our Brutus family has never developed in a smooth sailing situation, and we Brutus family have even encountered a more dilemma than this.

Let's not talk about the rest for the time being, don't you know how our Brutus family and the other three major families rose back then? Don't you understand how risky our ancestors were to do something that no one dared to do at the time? If our ancestors had failed, there would have been no current Roman Republic at all, and the Romans would have only lived in the dire Roman kingdom!

It is precisely because our ancestors fought at the risk of death that the birth of the Roman Republic and the prosperity and supreme glory of our Brutus family for hundreds of years; Therefore, in the face of the dilemma, we should not be afraid of the head, but should have the courage to stand up and use our own efforts to create a better future for the Brutus family! ”

With this stern teaching from his father, Vibius also sat back in his place silently; The rest of the room looked at Tiberius in amazement. While the generals of the Brutus family were surprised that the leader of their family was so bold, Sulla and Pompey lamented that it was not for nothing that the four great families could dominate the Roman Republic for hundreds of years.

Even Tiberius, the leader of the Brutus family, who is the most inactive of the four major family leaders, can have such courage when the family is facing a dilemma, and the other three families need to be said? Flavis of the House of Julius has always been the most shrewd and capable of the four leaders; Decius of the Maxentius family was also a once-recognized genius, a typical figure of scheming.

As for the leader of the house of Scipio; Although the current leader, Iulianus, is a complete waste, but his younger brothers, Quintus, who is part of the Augustus family, and the young and promising Aulus, are extraordinary. Moreover, Julianus was not a man of the same era as Tiberius and other leaders, his father Cornelius Scipio was the true leader of the four great families!

No matter what Sulla and Pompey had in their hearts, they were as calm as ever on the surface; Tiberius did not pay attention to the surprised gazes of the crowd, but continued with great momentum:

"Generals, this expedition to the Kingdom of Epirus is a great battle that will determine the future fate of our Brutus family, and I hope that all the generals can work together to create a better future for our Brutus family; Of course, we, the Brutus family, will not treat everyone badly. As long as you are willing to do your best for our Brutus family, we Brutus family will also give you wealth for generations!

In this Second Macedonian War, the expeditionary corps of our Brutus family was the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, and tenth eight legions and ten auxiliary legions with a total of 66,000 troops; The remaining 7th and 8th legions were responsible for staying in the two provinces to ensure that the family was safe.

After the adjournment of the meeting today, all the commanders who need to go to the army will begin to return to the barracks to prepare for the departure of their respective regiments; Each legion on this expedition was at full strength, and all the equipment needed to be brought with them. After landing in the kingdom of Epirus, we attacked steadily; Rely on the superiority of our own legion's equipment against the forces under the command of Pyrrhus.

As for the exact time of the expedition, it is necessary to wait for the arrangement of the two Excellencies, Sulla and Pompey; When the two of you have raised enough ships for our Brutus family to transport an army of 70,000 men to the Kingdom of Epirus at one time, we will immediately launch a new attack on the Kingdom of Epirus! ”

"Yes!" All the ten legion commanders present stood up in unison under the orders of Tiberius. Sulla and Pompey also looked at each other, and then Sulla stood up and said after the generals had all sat back in their seats:

"Your Excellency, with the size of the Brutus family's existing fleet and the number of transports, Pompey and I must prepare about a hundred transports to transport all the 70,000 troops to the kingdom of Epirus at once; This is not a huge amount that can be raised in a day or two, and it will take Pompey and I at least half a month to barely raise so many transport ships! ”

Tiberius had long expected that Sulla and Pompey would not be able to raise so many transports in a short period of time, and Sulla and Pompey were able to raise a hundred transports in half a month, which was enough to shock Tiberius; Still, Tiberius asked incredulously:

"Your Excellency Sula, are you and Your Excellency Pompey really sure that we will complete the task of assembling a hundred transport ships in half a month? Actually, you don't have to be in such a hurry, as long as the two Excellencies can assemble a hundred transports in a month; After all, it will take time for the eight legions to prepare for the expedition, and it will take them at least ten days to move all the equipment to the port! ”

Sulla smiled at Tiberius, who still couldn't believe it, and then said confidently: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, we appreciate your kindness; However, His Excellency Pompey and I have known quite a few people in foreign maritime trade, and half a month is enough time for us to borrow a hundred transport ships.

As for the extremely inconvenient handling of equipment, we have a piece of information here; It is said that the Julius family also used a considerable amount of ballista when they conquered the Illyrian kingdom and the Salzburg barbarians of Norikum. However, their ballista could not affect the marching speed of their large army; The reason is that they use a large number of war horses to drag and march with ballistas! ”

Using a war horse to tow ballistas and stone catapults? That's a great way to do it! But the crux of the matter is that the Julius family can use this method to speed up their march because their family has already taken the region of Gallic in Shannei, which is rich in war horses; And the Brutus family simply don't have enough horses to complete this difficult task!

If a ballista wants to reach the marching speed of a normal legion, it needs at least two horses to drag it; A catapult requires at least four horses to pull it if it is to reach the marching speed of a normal legion. And a legion with forty-eight ballistae and twelve stone crossbows means that one hundred and forty-four horses are needed; Eight legions are 1,152 horses! (To be continued.) )