Correttamentegiudicarelasituazionedellagentediguerraaconosceretestesso (The one who correctly judges the situation of war can survive a hundred battles)

- Wigisius (Ancient Roman Emperor, author of [Roman Military System])

When the elites of the various Roman legions joined forces to break through the front line of Hannibal's legions, they did not see the empty space they wanted; Twenty-four well-draped war elephants trampled on the warriors of the elite Roman legions. Countless elite heavy infantry of Roman legions died at the feet of war elephants before they knew what had happened; However, more heavy infantry, fearless of death, came up again.

Oscar, after seeing the tragic scene on the front on the left flank, knew that it was too late to say anything, and that he had to continue fighting. So, Oscar took Licinius and the guards in the direction of the Wolf Army. At this time, the Wolf Legion had also lost more than half of its troops; The Wolf Legion and the Guards combined are only about 1,500 people.

When Oscar and Licinius arrived at the Wolf Legion's position, the Augustus army, whose leader was safe and sound, once again erupted in cheers and cheers. While Oscar is distressed by the loss of the Wolf Legion, he is also proud of the Wolf Legion's tenacity. Without superfluous words, Oscar simply drew his short sword; He said loudly to the soldiers who looked at him with admiration:

"I don't know what the outcome of today's decisive battle will be, it is possible to win; More likely to fail. But none of that matters, the important thing is that I'm with you. Each and every one of you has proved your bravery and fearlessness in this war, and you are the greatest pride of me and of House Augustus; Even if we all die here today, our names will always be remembered by the world!

Soldiers, it's too late to encourage you; For the Warriors, a few words are worth a thousand. The enemy is ahead, and together we would rather die here than be shocked by our courage. Kill! ”

After speaking, Oscar and Licinius took the lead in killing Hannibal's army in front; The soldiers of the Wolf Legion naturally mustered all their strength once again to follow the leader and kill Hannibal's legion. After paying the lives of nearly 300 soldiers of the Wolf Legion and countless other legions, the last Carthaginian war elephant finally fell.

Oscar, who was extremely tired, didn't have time to catch his breath and saw the mixed army of Spanish Gaul surrounding; At this time, Hannibal's mixed phalanx was less than 2,000 people, and they were sparsely surrounding the exhausted Roman legions from all directions. There were less than 10,000 remnants of more than six legions, and they were all tired divisions that had been fighting for more than six hours.

However, it is impossible to destroy these tens of thousands of tired divisions with 2,000 long-fought soldiers; As long as there was a breath of air, the Roman army could not surrender to Hannibal's army. This is the pride of the Romans! Unfortunately, there are unforeseen circumstances; Just as Oscar and other generals were once again preparing to engage Hannibal's army, the Greek legions, which numbered less than 2,000, fled!

At this time, Oscar was no longer able to fulfill the old Scipio's request, and of course there was no need to do it; Even if they chose to escape, they would not have been able to escape from the pursuit of Hannibal's elite cavalry. However, Oscar still gritted his teeth with hatred for the Greek legion that chose to escape; Because of their escape, the coalition defense line, which was still relatively intact, suddenly appeared a huge hole in the left flank.

The Iberian infantry, which had been entangled with the Greek legions, quickly seized the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the flank of the unsuspecting wolf legions; The Wolf Legion was caught off guard and cut in half by the Iberian infantry. Oscar and Licinius remained at the front with about six hundred infantry, while Belis and Etis were surrounded with less than four hundred remnants.

Oscar wanted to return to the rescue, but he couldn't shake the Iberian infantry line; They could only watch as they were wiped out by the galloping Hannibal cavalry. There was no point in continuing the war, but the pride and insistence of the Romans prevented the remaining Roman army, of less than 6,000 men, from making the decision to surrender to Hannibal.

Thus, the brutal battle continued; Someone is falling every minute and every second. Gradually, Oscar could no longer lift his arm; Licinius was also covered in blood and unable to fight again. Suddenly, several heralds rushed towards Oscar from a distance; They came to Oscar and handed him the banner and the commander's seal representing the Supreme Commander of the Roman legions.

and conveyed Scipio the Elder's last order before his death: Oscar would succeed him as supreme commander of the Roman Combined Legion; Any corps commander or below who disobeys orders can be executed on the spot. Before Oscar could ask the herald why he was himself, the herald offered to tell Oscar why. It turned out that before Scipio the Old died in battle; Paulus, Nucias, Severia and other generals have all been killed in battle, and the seven Roman legion commanders have disappeared and been killed or wounded, except for Quintus of the Boar Legion, who can still fight.

In desperation, Oscar had no choice but to accept Scipio the Elder's will, and then Oscar erected the banner of the Supreme Commander in his own place. When the purple eagle flag, which symbolizes the Roman Republic, flutters in the air, all the remnants of the Roman army who have not died for a long time seem to see hope; Once again, he clenched his weapon and rushed in the direction of Oscar.

It was a race to the death for endurance, and although Hannibal's army had an absolute advantage, it was also exhausted; Although the Roman Combined Legion was only remnants of the defeated army, it still had the courage to fight. Finally, after another innumerable number of casualties; All the Roman soldiers of the war were brought together.

By this time, dusk had fallen; The land on the north bank of the Caldus River was littered with the corpses of dead soldiers and mutilated weapons. Hannibal's army of 15,000 still had 7,000 tired divisions, and the majestic Roman army of 35,000 was less than 2,000. In just one day, the entire eight fully loaded main battle regiments were lost; At this moment, Oscar knew that the sky of the Romans had fallen again.

The captain of the Wild Boar Legion, Quintus, no longer cared about these things, and the death of his father, Scipio the Elder, had given him a great shock; His spiritual world was already in a trance. At this moment, the remnants of the Roman army were no more than 500 meters away from the Galdus; On the south bank of the Gardus River, there are still the last 2,000 gladiators left by Oscar, who are the only lifesaver for the remnants of the army.

How far the last 500 meters will be Oscar is not known, but it is impossible for Hannibal's army, which has been densely surrounded, to let them pass easily. Oscar reluctantly raised his short sword, and said calmly to the remnants of the army of less than 2,000 with a hoarse throat that had not drunk a sip of water for a day: "Soldiers, we still have the last fresh army on the other side of the river; Rush over, and we'll be born! If we can't rush through, we'll die together! ”

There was no cheer, no excitement, and the Roman soldiers, already numb, took up their weapons and continued to rush forward; Hannibal's legions, on the other hand, stood in the way of the front. The Galdus River is a relatively wide river, and in addition to crossing the river by boat, there is only a stone bridge more than 50 meters long that can pass through it. And the ships have long been destroyed by the warring parties.

By this time, the two ends of this narrow stone bridge were already full of troops. On the south bank, Narsi with nearly 2,000 gladiators and Spartan hoplites, and on the north bank, the last 1,000 Iberian infantry under Hannibal's command; The narrow stone bridge decided which side would attack first and which side would suffer a devastating blow from the other side at the bridge entrance, and no one dared to take this step first.

Hannibal's army was unwilling to pay any more unnecessary casualties because the battle had been won; And Nalsi is because these 2,000 people are Oscar's last straw, once they are heavily damaged by Hannibal's army. The Armageddon, then, would have ended with the total annihilation of the Roman side; The Augustan family will also be devastated by the loss of two family leaders in half a year.

All eyes were on the last 2,000 remnants; But Oscar knew that it was impossible for him and his soldiers to rush through. The soldiers are now just holding the last breath in their chests and trying their best, waiting for this breath to be released; Soldiers who have not advanced all day will fall weakly on the battlefield and will never be able to stand up again.

500 meters, 300 meters, 100 meters, 50 meters, the remnants of the army, which is now less than 600 people, can finally see the reinforcements on the other side of the stone bridge. However, this breath in the chest has also been used up; When the first hoplite fell on its own, one by one the hoplites fell. Even Oscar and Licinius collapsed on the bloodied grass in a state of vertigo.

Nalsey knew that Oscar and they couldn't hold on, and there was no way but he could only lead the last 2,000 reinforcements to kill them. The first to rush to the front were the gladiators of the Samonai Legion; In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Spartan heavy infantry, the impact in front could only be piled up with the blood and lives of the gladiators. Perhaps it was the courtesy and respect given to them by the Augustan family that made them truly consider themselves to be members of the Augustan family; The flesh and blood collision after the impact did not stop them, and one by one, they used their lives to open the way for Oscar without hesitation.

The brave gladiators broke through the 50-meter barrier of Hannibal's army with more than a thousand lives, and when Narsey personally carried Oscar on his back, the remaining gladiators also supported the remnants of the warriors who could still walk. After that, the remaining less than 500 gladiators rushed back to the south bank with the remnants of about 300 troops.

After leaving behind a full 200 heavily armed Spartan hoplites, Nalsi and Thales quickly evacuated with Oscar and the remnants of the army to the coastal landings.