Even if the wicked people in the world pretend to be very kind, the thinking people will not fail to see it. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

- Aesop (Greek fabler, Phrygian)

Even after nightfall, the landing of the Augustan army was not affected in the slightest, and the great port was illuminated with countless torches; At this time, the 20,000 garrisons in Alexandria had no idea what was happening in the harbor, and they were still enjoying a peaceful night's sleep in their barracks.

After a night of hasty landing and unloading, all the troops of the Augustan Empire completed the landing before midnight; All the grain and grass materials were also unloaded into the warehouses in the port in an orderly manner, and the noisy port was restored to the quiet of the night after the unloading of ships.

Early the next morning, the characteristic trumpet sound of the Augustan Imperial army sounded near the port; At the sound of such a trumpet, the eight legions of the Augustan Empire quickly assembled, and the 25,000 soldiers of the Kingdom of Egypt also began to assemble in the assembly of friendly troops.

After eight o'clock in the morning, the army that had eaten breakfast set out for Alexandria; Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great more than a hundred years ago, the exact date is not detailed, and its main architect was the famous Dino Cletes of Alexander's empire.

Legend has it that Alexander the Great did not have chalk at hand when he wanted to draw the plan of the city, so he used grain to plan the overall situation of the city, which was taken by Alexander the Great's astrologers as a sign that the city would be as prosperous as grain; Later generations saw this story as a sign that Alexandria would later become an exporter of grain to Egypt and the most important food supplier to Alexander's empire.

Alexander's purpose here was to establish a Greek center in Egypt on the edge of Naucratis as a link between Greece and the rich Nile Valley; At that time, there was only one place in Egypt that provided the conditions for such a city: Alexandria, located behind the island of Pharaoh and unhindered by the silt at the mouth of the Nile, was the most suitable place to build a city.

In fact, the specific construction of Alexandria was done by Ptolemy, who was then the governor of Egypt in Alexander's empire; After the sudden death of Alexander's empire, the kingdom of Egypt founded by Ptolemy was also based on Alexandria.

Later, during the reign of Ptolemy X, a fierce war broke out between the Kingdom of Egypt and the Seleucid Empire; At the height of the war, Ptolemy X feared that the Seleucid Empire would use its navy to attack the capital of the Kingdom of Egypt, so he ordered the expansion of the original Memphis City in Central Egypt further back, and moved the capital of the Kingdom of Egypt to Memphis.

Although the capital of the Kingdom of Egypt is no longer Alexandria, the special status of Alexandria has not been reduced; In particular, the port of Alexandria is also the largest port in the entire eastern continent, which undoubtedly adds to the status of Alexandria.

You know, it only takes an hour to get from Alexandria to Alexandria, and you can even see the outline of the port from the highest point in Alexandria. As soon as the Augustan Empire's troops captured Alexandria, the Augustan Empire's mission to help Cleopatra regain the throne of Pharaoh was halfway complete.

Because Alexandria was not only the original capital of the Kingdom of Egypt, but also the most important granary of the entire Kingdom of Egypt; After the acquisition of Alexandria, it meant that the army of Augustus and Cleopatra had an inexhaustible supply of food and grass, while the army of Ptolemy XIII lost the most important granary.

The armies of the Egyptian region in the present kingdom of Egypt and the armies of the frontier areas in front of them were all provided with regular food and grass by the city of Alexandria; Once Alexandria was occupied by the combined forces of the Augustan Empire and Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIII had one less hole card in his hand and another hole card in Cleopatra's hand.

Less than half an hour after the mighty army of 100,000 men had advanced, the defenders of Alexandria discovered that a large number of enemy troops were coming; Since Ptolemy, who was the governor of Egypt in Alexander's empire, successfully founded the kingdom of Egypt, the province of the Nile Delta, where Alexandria was located, no longer had the position of governor.

That is to say, the most powerful people in Alexandria were the lord of Alexandria and the general of the garrison of Alexandria; Both men were staunch followers of Ptolemy XIII, and when they discovered that the Egyptian army and the Augustan Empire were coming, they immediately thought of Cleopatra, and at this time, only Cleopatra would lead a large army against the kingdom of Egypt.

As die-hard loyalists of Ptolemy XIII, they naturally did not compromise with Cleopatra, but they also knew that with 20,000 defenders in Alexandria, it was impossible to stop the enemy's 100,000-strong army; So, they immediately sent hundreds of cavalry to rush in the direction of Memphis, and the mission of these cavalry was to bring the news of Cleopatra's counterattack with the Augustan Empire to Memphis.

After sending these cavalry, these two men had no choice but to shut up the city and prepare to carry it to the end; Oscar never thought that he could directly help Cleopatra occupy Memphis and regain the position of pharaoh by using a sneak attack, and this Augustan Empire's attack on the Kingdom of Egypt was a dignified attack, and Oscar would not be afraid of the Kingdom of Egypt to prepare for war.

How could Alexandria, which was only defended by 20,000 infantry, resist the attack of an army of 100,000, and when the dense army surrounded Alexandria, Cleopatra personally stood two hundred meters from the city wall to persuade the defenders to surrender.

Cleopatra, after all, was Ptolemy XII's own daughter and one of the legal heirs, and these ordinary soldiers still found Cleopatra's words more credible than the city lords and generals who encouraged the defenders to defend Alexandria.

It's a pity that their general is their supreme commander, and it is impossible for them to disobey their general's order to open the city and surrender at this time; After Cleopatra's persuasion to surrender failed, the equipment brigades of the five infantry legions of the Augustan Empire also adjusted the tall stone crossbows and a large number of ballistae.

Immediately after Cleopatra retreated to Oscar's side, Oscar ordered sixty catapults from five legions to begin bombarding the walls of Alexandria at the same time; Because the walls of Alexandria were too tall, the ballista guns could play a very limited role, so Oscar just let those ballistae concentrate their shells and bolts to bombard the gates of Alexandria, and completely handed over the walls to the stone catapults to bombard.

It turned out that even the tallest city walls could not withstand a massive bombardment of a large number of stone catapults; Only after the fourth round of bombardment, the city wall of the north gate of Alexandria became potholes, especially the defenders on the city wall, they became terrified under such bombardment, and did not dare to stand on the city wall intensively.

During the fifth round of bombardment, a stone fired from a catapult happened to hit the middle command building where the city lord and general of Alexandria were located; The huge stone blocks directly smashed the wooden command tower to pieces, and the city lord and general were buried in it.

Oscar was pleasantly surprised to find out about this, and immediately suspended the bombardment of the catapult troops, and asked Cleopatra to go to the city wall two hundred meters away to persuade the leaderless defenders to surrender; After five rounds of bombardment with sixty stone catapults, and the loss of the command of the general and the lord of the city, it was Cleopatra, the heir of the pharaoh of the Kingdom of Egypt, who persuaded him to surrender.

This time Cleopatra did not return in vain, and the defenders of the city obeyed and opened the gates of Alexandria under Cleopatra's persuasion; Once again, the combined forces of the Augustan Empire and Cleopatra captured a province without bloodshed.

However, the occupation of the Augustan Empire and the army loyal to Cleopatra were bloodless, while the 20,000 defenders of Alexandria paid the price of nearly 1,000 dead and more than 2,000 casualties under the bombardment of catapults.

Considering the emotional factors of the Egyptians, and in order to make the Egyptians better accept Cleopatra's rule, Oscar did not let the eight legions of the Augustan Empire follow Cleopatra into Alexandria; The only army that actually marched into Alexandria was the 25,000 Egyptian troops loyal to Cleopatra, and the Augustan army was stationed outside the city.

With the fall of the largest granary of the Egyptian kingdom, the Egyptian army loyal to Cleopatra grew to 43,000 men; Compared to Cleopatra, who wanted to immediately launch an attack on the Central Egyptian region, Oscar suggested that Cleopatra slow down the pace of the attack and start doing something else.

First of all, Oscar had Cleopatra throw an olive branch to the Phoenician governor of the Kingdom of Egypt, Potinus, and the Jewish governor Okchivian in Alexandria; As long as Perinos and Octvian were willing to support Cleopatra on the throne of Pharaoh, Cleopatra could guarantee that the status and power of Perinos and Octvian would remain unchanged.

Second, the Egyptian army under Cleopatra also needed to expand; Ptolemy XIII would have fought to the death against Cleopatra's army for the position of pharaoh of the Kingdom of Egypt, and it was impossible for Cleopatra to win as easily as she did now, and Cleopatra's army would have to pay a very heavy price to win.

In the final analysis, the army of the Augustan Empire was only the reinforcement of Cleopatra to seize the throne of the pharaoh, and the real Armageddon was to be completed by the Egyptian army under Cleopatra; Otherwise, what would the people of the Kingdom of Egypt think of Cleopatra, who relied entirely on the armies of the Augustan Empire to claim the throne of Pharaoh?

Therefore, Oscar's advice to Cleopatra was to use Alexandria's grain and Augustan Empire's funds to recruit troops in Alexandria; After these armies are recruited, the two governors should also have an echo, and that is the best time to attack Memphis. (To be continued.) )