An hour of playing with a guy is better than a year's worth of conversation. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

- Plato (one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of Western culture)

The peaceful sleep after the war is a great pleasure for all the soldiers who participated in the war; But for the generals, the tension has not passed. In fact, such a large-scale decisive battle is a great torment for the generals participating in the war.

On the surface, the generals did not need to go into battle to kill the enemy in person, and there was no risk of licking blood from the knife edge; When the war is won, the generals get all the credit, and if the war is lost, the generals are not responsible for it.

However, in reality, this is not the case; Every general is not so easy to be. General, he needs to command the soldiers under his command; It is even more necessary to be responsible for the soldiers under his command.

Do you think that generals are what the world has seen, commanding thousands of troops and horses, wearing sturdy armor, and traveling with elite guards? It was only an occasional outfit to travel, and the generals were still in the barracks, working for the soldiers under their command.

For example, the commanders of the Augustan family, they not only need to lead the training of their soldiers in peacetime, but also need to ensure that their soldiers do not have uncontrollable accidents; Even, even the Legion's daily food needs to be taken care of by the Legion Commander.

By the time the war broke out, the legionnaires were even busier; In addition to leading the legion as always, they also need to obey the orders of the family leader or commander, think about how to deal with the enemy army, think about how to minimize the casualties of their soldiers, and so on.

If they were unfortunate enough to encounter a large-scale decisive battle such as the decisive battle of Zama, the generals would inevitably have to personally take their guards into battle; Therefore, the pressure on generals is far from what ordinary people can imagine, and not everyone can be a qualified general.

After experiencing the tense rush before the battle and the fierce fighting in the decisive battle, the generals of the Augustan family still can't rest and sleep as boldly as ordinary soldiers, they also need to comfort the wounded and wailing soldiers, prepare everything the entire army needs to do tomorrow, etc., this is the generals of the Augustan family.

Of course, Oscar also knows that it is not easy for generals; This is also the reason why Oscar never spared titles and rewards for his family's generals. If you want the oxen to plow the land, you must give the cows grazing; This is the eternal truth!

In fact, as the leader of the Augustan family, Oscar is under pressure that is unimaginable to ordinary people; It's just that Oscar is working hard for the highest peak of power, and he is all willing.

There was no word for a night, and the next morning, when the sun had just risen, the trumpets of the army rallied again in the three barracks of the House of Augustus; At the sound of the trumpet, the sleeping army of House Augustus was awakened once again.

What is different from the past is that as soon as the horn sounds, the soldiers in the three barracks will immediately assemble according to the hundred-man team and the brigade; And now, after the horn sounded, the soldiers packed their bags and prepared to leave.

Quintus and Mahabal had to return to Messina with their own men, and Luquis had to take the 4,000 men of Theophanes and Samonay's army to Lower Sicilia to complete the tasks assigned by Oscar.

Oscar himself, on the other hand, marched in the direction of the ancient city of Syrac with 3,500 cavalry led by Mary and Licinius, as well as 1,500 family affairs led by Nucis, plus 2,500 light infantry led by Narsi.

In Oscar's heart, the combination of Lucis and Theophanis is simply an easy thing to win down Sicilya; After all, Hannibal had already drained all the forces of Lower Sicily, and the whole of Lower Sicilia was just an undefended province, and Liliba was the capital of a province that was not left behind.

All this made the Augustan family's strategy for Lower Sicilia simple, coupled with the presence of Theophanes; Oscar believed that Lilibal and the other cities of Lower Sicilia would not choose to resist without interest.

In comparison, the ancient city of Syra in Greater Sicily was more troublesome; This is not to say that Oscar was only worried about the 3,000 elite Spartan hoplites in the ancient city-state of Syracuse, but Oscar had other concerns.

To be honest, Oscar never felt that the three thousand Spartan hoplites in the city-state of Syracuse could make much of a difference; No matter how strong the Spartan heavy infantry were, it was up to those who commanded them.

A flock of sheep led by a lion can easily defeat a flock of lions led by a sheep, this is war, and it is also the basic principle of army engagement; There is no doubt that the Spartan heavy infantry, no matter how powerful, could not have played much of a role under the leadership of a group of waste.

In fact, Oscar did not look down on the Greeks, let alone discriminate against the Greek generals; It's just that the generals and armies of the ancient city-state of Syractic performed too poorly in the two Great Sicilian Wars!

To put it bluntly, if the army of the city-state of Syractica was half as well-trained as the army of the city-state of Sparta, and the generals of the city-state of Syrac were one-tenth as brave and skilled in battle; The city-state of Syra would not be as weak as it is today.

From a geographical point of view, the great Sicily where the city-state of Syrac is located is no less than the Laconia where the city-state of Sparta is located; Why did the Spartan city-state become the overlord of the entire Greek city-state alliance, while the ancient city-state of Syracuse became a dependent city-state that needed the support of the Spartan city-state to survive?

In the final analysis, it was the people of the city-state of Syra who were too weak; The Greeks who now rule the city-state of Syrac are no longer the Greeks who came to Sicily to open up the wasteland, but the Greeks who have been corrupted by extravagant life.

In the eyes of these people, attending a banquet of the upper class or going to the arena to watch a passionate gladiatorial fight is much more interesting than training one's martial arts skills and studying the battle formations of military books.

It's a pity to be born in such a world where all the heroes rise together and all the families compete for hegemony; If a faction wants to survive better, it needs skilled officers and generals who are proficient in battle formations, not nobles at banquets and wealthy merchants in the arena.

Perhaps, money can also change the course of a war in many cases, and it can also allow one's army to have more and better weapons and equipment, and even hire more foreign regiments; However, those are just additional strengths to their own strength.

In the case of not being strong enough, wealth and prosperity can only bring disaster and destruction to oneself; Why did the House of Scipio seize the city-state of Messina in Upper Sicily, and why did the Kingdom of Carthage seize the city-state of Lilib in Lower Sicilya?

Isn't the ultimate goal just for profit? Apart from the interests of the sea and the struggle for hegemony, was it not the staggering wealth of the two Greek city-states that attracted the Scipio family and the Carthaginian kingdom the most?

Having wealth is a beautiful thing in itself, but if you don't have the strength to keep it; Then, the sentence that the husband is not guilty of his guilt is the best interpretation.

The reason why the city-state of Syra was able to maintain its independence after the fall of the city-states of Messina and Lillian; It is nothing more than relying on the three-legged situation of Sicily, coupled with its own strength that is not weak.

But now? The three-legged situation has been completely broken! With the defeat of Hannibal, the House of Augustus has become the new overlord of Sicily; The city-state of Syrac, having also lost its only legion, will they still have the strength to remain independent?

The answer is no. The already declining city-state of Syracuse has not shown any intention of reforming itself in recent decades; Their consuls are still timid and cowardly, and their nobles are still indulged in lust and drunken dreams, how can such an ancient city-state of Syra be saved? How could they resist the forces of the Augustan family?

After the last decisive battle, Hannibal successfully took Upper Sicilya, which belonged to the family of Scipio; With Hannibal's personality and military strength, if he hadn't been able to get the support of the fleet of the Greek city-states, he would have taken the ancient city-state of Syrac and unified Sicily.

Even so, the city-state of Syracuse was almost reduced to a vassal of Hannibal; The city-state's army and fleet were all under Hannibal's command, and Hannibal's army could even be supplied in the ancient city-state of Syrac anytime and anywhere.

In fact, no matter who wins the decisive battle of Zama, it is almost impossible to change the fate of the ancient city-state of Syra; Unless the two sides lose and lose, in that case, the ancient city of Syracuse still has a chance to live.

Otherwise, after Hannibal wins, his army will take the opportunity to counterattack Sardinia and the Balearic Islands, and launch an all-out war against the Augustan family, completely solving the great problem of the Augustan family; After that, is the city-state of Syra still worth existing?

Now, it was the House of Augustus who won the war; The city-state of Syrac, as an ally of Hannibal the loser, was bound to suffer consequences. For Oscar, it was also one of the processes that the Augustan family had to unify Sicily!

For the better development and internal stability of the House of Augustus, Oscar had to make the whole of Sicily the cornerstone of the further development of the House of Augustus; In view of this, it is impossible for the ancient city-state of Syra to continue to exist!

However, Oscar also did not really intend to use force to solve the problem of the ancient city-state of Syrac; In Oscar's view, he could have used a better way to solve the problems of the ancient city-state of Syrac, and force was just the last option.

After leaving the barracks, Oscar led his army all the way to the direction of the ancient city of Syra; In just a few days, Oscar's army was only ten miles away from Syracuse, the ancient city-state of Syracuse! (To be continued.) )