There is only one excuse for war to be waged, and that is that through war we can live in peace without destruction.

- Marcus Tulius Cicero (Roman statesman, orator, orator, jurist, and philosopher)

Of course, Oscar wasn't thinking about the little old-fashioned legion weapons that the Augustus family had hoarded in Sardinia; Instead, he remembered the weapons and equipment that the Roman Republic had stockpiled enough to last an army of 100,000. After the introduction of the new Marian military reform, all the legions used new weapons and equipment that had been recreated; The old weapons and equipment are all in the warehouse and have not been used.

Originally, the Senate decided to smelt all the metal equipment in these weapons and equipment, but because of the time constraints and the deep pockets of the Republic; Therefore, before the smelting plan could start, all the weapons and equipment factories worked overtime to create new weapons and equipment. After all, time is of the essence, and the elders of the republic are not willing to waste a lot of time on smelting; If you have this spare time, you might as well build a little more new weapons and equipment.

Anyway, these things are wasted in the warehouse, and it is better to give them all to the Augustan family to make good use; That's what Oscar really thinks. Moreover, with this batch of weapons and equipment; In the future, the regular legions of the Augustus family will use the unified new legion standard equipment, and the guard army in charge of the provinces and counties will be able to use the high-quality equipment of those old weapons and equipment, and the rest can also become the capital of the Augustus family to trade with others.

It's a pity that it's late at night, otherwise Oscar would have gone directly to Marcus's mansion to discuss with Marcus; Marcus was the nominal supreme official of the Republic and was a unique consul. This small matter is not a big deal for the Republic, as long as Marcus nods. Moreover, with the present relationship between the House of Augustus and the House of Maxentius; Who would dare to disagree with this?

Do not think that the armament of 100,000 men is a great asset for the Roman Republic; The heritage and wealth of the Roman Republic for more than a thousand years is not something that ordinary people can imagine. To take the simplest example: it has only been a month since twelve new legions were formed; The fifteen legions, all the new weapons and equipment required for the 100,000 army have been built, and this is the real strength of the Roman Republic!

Usually inconspicuous, but after a real critical situation, the powerful potential of the Roman Republic can definitely make everyone jaw-dropping. It's like the United States before World War II. They have occupied the number one place in the world's industry for decades, but no one has ever felt how powerful the United States is; Until the Japanese gave the United States a slap in the face, and then the Japanese completely knelt in front of the American aircraft carrier sea and the tank sea, this is the war potential.

Undoubtedly. The war potential of the Roman Republic was staggering; At least in this world, no other country can have such a war potential as the Romans, except that the Egyptians can wrestle with the Romans. There are only two reasons for this formidable war potential in the age of cold weapons: first, the affluence of the country; Second, the size of the country's population.

Population is the most important factor. Because in the era of cold weapons, there will be no generation difference in weapons, remember that superiority and inferiority and generation difference are two concepts; Superior means that both sides use iron weapons, but your weapons are sharper. The meaning of the generation difference is that the two sides have already had the difference of the times, such as the wooden weapons of the indigenous people and the iron weapons of the civilized countries; There is a generational gap between the two.

Moreover, there will be no world of difference between the generals of the two sides, and generals like Hannibal are extremely rare after all; It is extremely difficult for the soldiers (non-militia farmers) of the regular army to be more than one against three, no matter how strong the quality is. In addition to taking advantage of the terrain, the most direct and best advantage is to increase the comparison of troops; Create a many-to-one advantage. And that's just a reflection of the sheer size of the population in terms of direct military might; Not to mention in other respects.

A country with a large population means that it has more soldiers, more craftsmen, more farmers, more merchants, and more talents than other countries; And these artisan farmers with more artisans than in other countries can make more goods for the country and grow more food. In short, in the era of cold weapons, a large population is basically invincible; Although there are exceptions. But as long as you don't die, you basically won't die.

This is actually the reason why Oscar imitated the reform of the Qin State Shang Dynasty and established a military academy, Oscar believes that there is no strict system for military organization and tactical guidance in the era of cold weapons. Officers in modern armies are highly educated in academies, and the vast majority of the problems faced by a unit are mentioned in textbooks; So any officer can command the troops with his own professional knowledge in a stylized way, and the modern army is a sophisticated machine, and the parts do not need to be very good, as long as they meet the standards.

However, in the era of cold weapons, the problems faced by a unit need to be decided by the wisdom and experience of the commander; But not every commander has a high IQ and ample experience. In the same case, two different commanders may make diametrically opposed decisions; That's where the big names come in, they are better educated and more experienced. Ability to respond quickly and correctly.

Even we can find that whether it is in the East or the West, the more well-organized and institutionalized the army. The more courageous generals are not needed: in China, it is rare for high-ranking generals to take the lead in the melee of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States; However, when the peasant uprising was in full swing at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the time when the heroes competed for hegemony in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, countless "fierce generals" appeared in the rebel army.

Why is this happening? Because a well-organized regular army is far less dependent on its generals than a scattered rebel army. In Rome, during the three Punic Wars, there were often reports of the heroic death of a legion commander; This included Oscar's father and a large number of high-ranking generals who had been killed in the last Battle of Lili. And once Oscar's series of reforms and military school plans are successfully implemented, unless the whole army is destroyed; Otherwise, the legions belonging to the House of Augustus would never have the death of the legion commander again.

The night passed little by little in Oscar's crankiness; Early the next morning, Oscar took Licini and his guards to Marcus's mansion. After Oscar meets Marcus and explains to him what he is here for. Marcus readily agreed to Oscar's request; He didn't even ask why, which made Oscar feel embarrassed.

That's not all, though; What really moved Oscar was that when Oscar and Licinius arrived at Marcus's mansion, Marcus was preparing to go out, and the unexpected destination was the Augustus family mansion. It turned out that Marcus had just received information from the Maxentius family in Greece this morning, so he was about to go to Oscar to tell Oscar the information that Greece had sent an expeditionary fleet and an expeditionary corps to Sicily.

In the face of Marcus's sincere behavior of treating himself as a family, Oscar also has mixed feelings in his heart; But Oscar really can't say that he already knew the news last night. He could only say that he would lead the Senate to aid the Augustus fleet back to Sardinia as soon as possible. Before that, the Greek fleet should not have reached Sicily so quickly; And General Luquis, who remained in Sardinia, would not have given Hannibal a chance.

Marcus did not give any opinion on Oscar's explanation, but once again warned Oscar to be careful of Hannibal and not to underestimate Hannibal's determination to attack Rome itself. After talking about this topic. Marcus asked Oscar to hurry to the barracks outside the city to assign tasks to the various legions; Because Oscar had already informed the Maxentius family about the return of the legion to Sardinia in batches.

Therefore, the task now is to order the First Eagle Banner Regiment and the Fifth Eagle Banner Regiment to go directly to the Latin port; Then let the Falcon Legion of the Maxentius family and the Boar Legion of the Scipio family also be on standby, and finally let the Sixth Legion and the Eleventh Legion take off all their weapons and equipment and go to the Republic's armament warehouse to carry all the old weapons and equipment that Oscar wanted to bring back to Sardinia.

Oscar, of course, would not refuse Marcus's kindness, and after arranging for a guard to go to the Scipio family mansion to inform Quintus of going to the barracks, Oscar took Licinius straight to the barracks; After arriving at the barracks, Quintus had already arrived at the barracks one step ahead of schedule. This time, Oscar didn't greet Quintus. Directly ordered Quintus to lead the 1st Eagle Banner Regiment and the 5th Eagle Banner Regiment to the port; Then he ordered Licinius to lead the Sixth Army and the Eleventh Army to the Republic's armament warehouses to carry weapons and equipment.

After quickly dealing with these matters, Oscar called Quintus aside and instructed Quintus: "Quintus, I have just received news from Marcus that the Greeks are on the side of Hannibal again; They have already sent a powerful fleet from their homeland to Sardinia. So I must first rush back to Sardinia, and when you have brought the two legions to the port, you will be in charge of the second shipment of the Falcon and the Boar Legion; As for the last shipment, I'll leave it to Licinius. What do you think? Quintus immediately took the order and left.

After arranging the affairs in the barracks, Oscar immediately rode back to the Augustus family mansion with several guards. Because of the tight schedule, Oscar doesn't plan to wait until the 25th to leave; It's only the 21st tomorrow, but Oscar has already decided to leave early. But before leaving. Oscar still has one more crucial thing to do; That is to say goodbye to Prisca.

Newlywed Yan'er, the two have been together for less than a month; How could Oscar bear to open up to Prisca? What makes Oscar even more helpless is that he can't come back for a while; Until Hannibal is completely settled, Oscar has little chance of returning to Rome. It's not a year and a half, to defeat Hannibal completely; In Oscar's view, without a three-year and five-year preparation time, it is simply impossible.

Do you want to see Prisca again for three and five years? Although she and Prisca have only shared a bed for less than a month, she is after all the first woman she has been in two worlds; Oscar really couldn't let go of his concern for Prisca in his heart. Maybe this is the weakness of human nature, whether it is a man or a woman; I will always miss the first opposite sex in my life.

While Oscar was riding his horse and thinking wildly, the Augustus mansion was already close at hand; After a helpless sigh. Oscar resolutely turned over and dismounted and walked to the mansion. When Oscar came to the backyard, he saw Prisca chatting and drinking morning tea with Mingyue in the garden, and after thinking about it again, Oscar walked towards Prisca.

Prisca and Mingyue soon found Oscar with a solemn face, looking at the serious Oscar, Prisca seemed to think of something and asked Mingyue to go to the room to rest for a while; Mingyue also sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. I was very interested and went back to my room. At this moment, only Oscar and Prisca are left in the flowery garden.

(To be continued.) )