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

Hannibal did not impulsively attack the heavily guarded army of the House of Augustus, and after carefully observing the army of the House of Augustus, Hannibal took it upon himself to lead the cavalry back to his barracks.

After returning to the barracks, Hannibal did not return to his tent alone, but took the Huskiduba with him to inspect the drills of the soldiers in his barracks; At the same time, Hannibal also sent two cavalrymen to summon Mahabal and Theophanes to discuss the matter.

Looking at the hard training of the soldiers in his barracks, Hannibal sighed helplessly in his heart while nodding frequently; The army under his command is still far behind the Roman army in terms of weapons and equipment!

Hannibal walked from the training ground of the Libyan spearmen to the training ground of the Iberian infantry, during which Mahabal and Theophanes also rushed to Hannibal's military camp and joined the inspection of Hannibal and Husdoba.

The entire Hannibal camp was divided into six parts, namely the training ground for the Libyan spearmen, the training ground for the Punic infantry, the training ground for the Holy Order infantry, the training ground for the Iberian infantry, the garrison for the shield cavalry, and the garrison for war elephants; After all the rounds were over, Hannibal did not hurry back to the tent, but asked the three generals behind him:

"Along the way, you have also seen the current situation of all the armies, and you tell me how the training of these six armies is, where are the advantages and disadvantages."

With that, Hannibal turned his gaze back to the soldiers who were training; Husky Duba and the others didn't understand why Hannibal suddenly asked this question, and after they looked at each other, they couldn't help but start thinking about how to answer.

Although neither Mahabal nor Theophanes understood why Hannibal would ask this question, Husdduba looked suddenly enlightened after thinking about it for a while; So the Hush Duba was the first to reply:

"General, I don't think that of the six armies, the shield cavalry and the war elephant units are not trained in the barracks, but there is no doubt about the role they can play in battle; Therefore, there is no need for these two forces to say more.

Of the remaining four troops, the Templar infantry should be the strongest from a training point of view; In fact, in the previous battles in North Africa, the Holy Order infantry had already proven its own formidable combat effectiveness. It is no exaggeration to say that the infantry of the Holy Order should be the most powerful infantry army in our Kingdom of Carthage.

This is not only because the Holy Order infantry have relatively better weapons and equipment, but also because the Holy Order infantry have been training hard for a long time and are not afraid of life and death; However, its shortcomings are also very obvious, that is, the scale of the infantry of the Holy Order is too small to become a decisive force on the battlefield!

With the exception of the Order's infantry, the Punic infantry and the Libyan spearmen were trained to a similar degree; The difference between the two is nothing more than that the weapons and equipment of the Punic infantry are better than those of the Libyan spearmen. However, in actual combat, the Punic infantry should be able to exert more combat effectiveness than the Libyan spearmen.

What caused this result was not the difference in strength between the two, but the difference in the nature of the two arms; As the top infantry unit of our Carthaginian Kingdom, the Punic Infantry uses the best weapons and equipment that our Carthaginian Kingdom can provide.

The Libyan spearmen, as the second infantry branch after the Punic infantry, are due to the nature of their spearmen; From the very beginning, it was limited to the enemy's light cavalry, and it was not very strong in real foot combat.

As for the Iberian infantry, they were nothing more than an army of newly recruited soldiers; Their training is only slightly better than that of ordinary militias. If it weren't for the fact that their weapons and equipment were newly created and distributed, they would be no different from the militia at all. ”

After Hushduba had commented on all the troops in the barracks in one breath, Hannibal and the other two generals also nodded in agreement; After Husduba finished speaking, Hannibal still watched the soldiers practice, turned his back to the three generals and said:

"Huskidhuba, your analysis is very reasonable, and this is indeed the current state of our army. Theophanes, you are my general, and my own brother, and I am sure you will not lie to me; You tell me what level of combat effectiveness your army and the army under General Mahabar is in my barracks. ”

Hannibal's question is indeed not suitable for Hush Douba and Mahabal to answer; However, even Theophanis is not easy to answer such a question! Thankfully, Theophanes is not a one-man Margo, he's still young and dares to say anything; So, when Hannibal asked, he replied bluntly:

"Big brother, I think that the combat effectiveness of the army under my command is a little stronger than the newly recruited 10,000 Iberian infantry, far less than the combat effectiveness of the Punic infantry, and even the Libyan spearmen are not comparable to my 15,000 mercenaries. Although, many of those mercenaries are the second brother's old Gallic mercenary department, but more of them are our newly recruited Spanish mercenaries in Betica.

Whether it was a Gallic mercenary or a Spanish mercenary, they were just mercenaries fighting for profit; It is impossible for them to fight to the death for us on the battlefield, and once the battle is fierce, they will definitely become a hidden danger to our army! Coupled with the fact that their weapons and equipment are inferior to our Iberian infantry, their combat effectiveness is simply not enough to affect the tide of battle.

As for the 12,000 army under General Mahababar, I think it is about the same level as my 15,000 army; It may not even be as effective as the combat effectiveness of the army under my command! Because of the 12,000 troops under General Mahabar, 6,000 were newly recruited recruits, and they had not even completed basic training, let alone actual combat experience.

The other 6,000 troops were Greek troops from the city-state of Syra; As for the combat effectiveness of the Greek army, I think that apart from the Spartan heavy infantry, only the Greek heavy infantry can fight. And this Greek legion under General Mahabal is a ragtag army composed of all Greek militiamen and javelinmen, not even standard Greek infantry!

If we hadn't replaced all the weapons and equipment of this Greek legion with the Roman weapons and equipment captured in the last war, they would probably not even be as effective as our militia; Therefore, I think that the overall combat effectiveness of the army under General Mahabal is about the same as that of my army; After all, my army still has at least actual combat experience. ”

Theophanes' honesty made Mahabal's face a little unbearable, but Hannibal didn't care about Theophanis's straightforwardness, but comforted Mahabal:

"Mahabal, don't mind Theophanes' words, the lack of combat effectiveness of the army under your command is not determined by your ability, but by the fact that I sent these troops to you to command, and it has nothing to do with you.

I know better than anyone else about your Mahabal's ability, you are a real general who can take charge of himself, and I believe that only you can command these ragtag armies well; Only you can make this 12,000-strong army exert a super-level combat effectiveness. Neither Hush Douba nor Theophanis can do this, only you can do it! ”

Hannibal's warm words of praise immediately turned the dissatisfaction in Mahabal's heart into full emotion; He tried to say something, but Hannibal smiled and waved his hand to stop him. After comforting Mahabal, Hannibal did not say anything more, but turned around and went back with the three generals in the direction of his military tent.

After returning to the tent, Hannibal motioned for the third to find a place for him to sit down; Then, after sitting on the main seat in the middle, he said to the three generals in a slightly helpless tone:

"Do you know why I asked you those two questions? Before summoning you to the barracks, I led the cavalry unit with the Huskid Duba to observe the vicinity of the Augustus army on the opposite side; After that, I walked around my barracks, and you know what I came to a conclusion?

The Roman army of the House of Augustus was no longer the Roman army it once was; They all used new, more advanced weaponry, and eliminated the original light infantry of their regiments. This means that we are facing an army of the House of Augustus, each of which has 6,000 hoplites!

Just what I have just seen, I have found that the army of the House of Augustus has about fifteen thousand hoplites and eight thousand cavalry; The rest of the Roman army, although not hoplites, was not inferior to our Punic infantry in terms of weaponry!

More importantly, judging from their reaction speed and momentum, there were no indiscriminate and indiscriminate armies in this 40,000-strong Roman Augustan army, and all of their troops were well-trained and imposing regular troops!

And what about us? As I have just asked, of our 55,000 troops, the only ones who can really fight on the battlefield are 6,000 Libyan spearmen, 6,000 Punic infantry, 2,000 Holy Order infantry, 4,000 shield cavalry, and 80 war elephants. Could it really be that we could defeat the 40,000 Roman army of the House of Augustus head-on with this 18,000-strong army? ”

Hannibal's words, the three generals present were speechless; Yes, although your own side has an absolutely superior number of troops on the surface, how many troops can really fight bloody battles on the battlefield?

Unlike in the past, the Roman army of today is not the Roman army of the past; In the past, the Roman legions had only four or five thousand men per legion, and only one or two thousand hoplites. And what about the Roman legions now? Each legion actually has 6,000 hoplites, how can such a strong strength be easy to deal with? (To be continued.) )