Nobleanimamescolandoinmodomagnificoconcertoaiuteràlepersonedeboliforte, lohaispiratoaperseguireungrandeenobilecausa (noble and majestic concerts stir the soul, help the cowardly to be strong, motivate him to pursue great and noble causes)

- Homer (ancient Greek blind poet, author of Homer's epics)

In the early morning of August 30, 270 B.C., after four days and five nights of sailing, the expeditionary fleet finally reached the sea off Sardinia; Before an hour's voyage from the port of Sardinia, all six sailing ships were flagged with the flags of the Greek city-states. At this time, the Greek city-states were trading with the countries around the Mediterranean, so the use of the flag of the Greek city-states would not arouse suspicion.

sailed all the way to the harbor without incident, and the two Carthaginian warships guarding did not have the slightest suspicion of these six cargo ships; But everyone on board began to tense their nerves, weapons in hand, and just waited for the ship to strike as soon as it landed! One by one, six cargo ships sailed into the harbor's moorings, and when they came to a stop, the crew carried boxes of cargo under the pretense of going down.

After the first real cargo was unloaded, the entire port was left unpaid attention to the entire fleet of ships. Suddenly, a low trumpet sounded; Just as everyone in the harbor was at a loss, there was a shout of killing from the six cargo ships at the same time, followed by a steady stream of troops pouring from the hold towards the port.

The 240 Cretan archers of the two armies also quickly took the high ground on the cargo ship, and then used their range and height advantage to continuously shoot one sharp arrow after another at all those who were ready to flee or resist. For every sharp arrow fired from the hands of these elite Cretan archers, one of them would fall, either dead or wounded.

Of all the armies that rushed out, the 200 Red Armor Corps, led by Ulles, quickly surrounded the left flank of the entire port, and the 200 Blue Armor Corps, also led by Gabriel, quickly surrounded the right flank. The remaining two battalions of Spartan hoplites and Greek pikemen, led by a general in black armor, quickly took control of the port.

In just five minutes, Oscar and Luquis's first step was successfully completed; With the exception of the two Carthaginian ships that escaped because they could not be stopped, all the other people in the harbor were contained. Because of the recent war between Carthage and Rome, Sardinia has not had a large number of ships anchored for several months.

Even if a cargo ship comes to the port of Sardinia to deliver some goods for a short time, it is still to leave after sending it for fear of war; Therefore, there are not many people in the whole Sardinian port. With only about 1,000 port coolies and 500 Carthaginian peasants, there is no doubt that these 500 peasants surrendered after being shot and wounded by Cretan archers, and their commander was the first to be shot.

Seeing that the entire harbor was already under control, Oscar and Luquis stepped out of the cabin and onto the harbor. The black-armored general saw Oscar, who was wearing the armor of the leader of the Augustan family, come out, and immediately ran to Oscar, knelt down on one knee and said respectfully: "The deputy general of the Cretan legion, Gumos, see Your Excellency the leader!" “

Oscar helped Gumus up and gently encouraged: "General Gumus has worked hard!" From Crete to Sardinia, almost a month of turbulence at sea plus an attack as soon as it landed; The Cretan Legion did not live up to its reputation as an elite division. General Gumos is indeed the great general of the family! On behalf of the family, I thank you for sacrificing your life for the sake of the House of Augustus! “

Hearing the sincere words of His Excellency, the head of the family, Gumos, who was still slightly dissatisfied with this expedition, immediately said angrily: "All for Augustus! Swear allegiance to the family, swear allegiance to the leader! Gumos's words resonated with all the Cretan Expeditionary Legionmen present, who had been taught from an early age to be loyal to the Augustan family and to be loyal to the leader!

But no one has ever really seen with their own eyes what the leader of the House of Augustus was like; For these ordinary soldiers, the head of the family is as unattainable as the gods of their faith. Perhaps, for them, it would be a great honor to be able to dedicate their lives to the Augustan family while meeting the leader of the clan in battle armor from afar.

I didn't expect to see with my own eyes today the high-ranking leader, who was so mighty and extraordinary in the armor that belonged only to the leader of the Augustus family; What everyone didn't expect was that His Excellency the Leader would encourage them so much and value them so much for a small battle. A sense of pride in being a member of the House of Augustus instantly flooded everyone's hearts.

The excited Cretan legionmen followed the voice of Gumos and shouted, "Swear allegiance to the family!" Swear allegiance to the leader! There was a warm atmosphere at the scene, and the Red Armor Army and the Blue Armor Army who were responsible for the peripheral operations were also felt, so they also chanted with everyone. Although he was very emotional about everyone's loyalty to the family, there were more important things in front of him, so Oscar could only wave his hand to silence everyone.

After everyone fell silent, Oscar said to everyone, "I, Oscar, the leader of the Augustan family, thank you for each and every one of you for your selfless dedication to the family!" We have a tough battle ahead of us, so I'll have to leave the celebration for after the war; I hope you will work with me to create brilliance! Now, each of you has his duty; Work hard, the future is created together! “

After speaking, Oscar called the generals Luquis, Gumus, Gabriel, and Ulles into his makeshift chamber on the cargo ship; After the four generals sat down, Oscar said: "Now we have only completed the first step of the battle plan, and we must launch a surprise attack on Calaris before the Karais side reflects on it in order to achieve a complete victory in this combat operation." “

Luquis said: "Next, except for leaving enough troops to guard these 1,500 prisoners, all the rest of the men and horses must immediately march towards Calaris, and strive to reach Calaris tonight, and after a night's rest, we will attack Calaris." Gumos was puzzled: "The soldiers are so fast, why did they immediately take advantage of the darkness to attack when they arrived?" “

Lucquis explained: "Although we won the port plan this time, there were no casualties; But the army had been tossed and turned on the sea, and when it landed, it would go into battle, and after a hurried march to Calaris, it would have been exhausted, and it would not have been able to fight again without rest; Even a reluctant victory will pay a heavy price. Moreover, we are three armed forces in one, and we are not familiar with all aspects of weaponry and combat coordination; Accidental injuries can occur in the dark. “

Luquis's explanation made everyone present nod yes, and he really deserved to be a famous general of the family! Oscar agreed, and commanded the generals: "Gabriel, you lead the Blue Armor Army to guard the prisoners; If the captives have the slightest ill-intention, don't show mercy and rather kill them by mistake than let them go, and our rear will be handed over to you! Gabriel stood up and obeyed.

Oscar then ordered: "The other generals immediately order the army to pack up, and each one of them to bring four meals of dry food, and send the troops to Calaris!" As soon as the generals received the order, they went out to prepare, and Oscar also walked out of the cabin with Luquis, mounted the horses that had been prepared for the time, and walked with the second general with the army in the direction of Calaris.

After a day of intense marching, at nightfall the army reached three miles outside Callaris; At this time, the entire army was quietly hidden in the woods outside the city, and the soldiers were silently gnawing on dry food. Oscar and the third general were also nibbling on dry food while waiting for the scouts to return; Suddenly, there was a sound of Suosuo, and the scouts who had gone out to scout returned.

The scout brought back the jaw-dropping news that the commander of the Sardinian legion, the former centurion Hamaca, had felt that the wooden walls of the city of Calaris were not safe enough; It was decided to rebuild a stone wall. The idea was good, but unfortunately, when Hamaka had just finished demolishing the wooden walls, the army of the House of Augustus had already arrived......

Speechless, Oscar asked, "Doesn't Hamaka know that the construction of a stone wall does not require the demolition of the wooden wall at all?" Luquis laughed, "So he was a centurion for 20 years before he was suddenly promoted!" "Hahahaha, everyone let out a cheerful laugh; Tomorrow's battle is easy to fight!

There was no word all night, and everyone was hurrying to rest. Early the next morning, when the sky was gray, Gumos had already lined up the battle line with two brigades of soldiers; The first column consisted of 240 Spartan hoplites, and the second column consisted of 240 Greek pikemen; There is no back in the back. Then, with the sound of a loud military trumpet, Gumos led his army step by step towards the Hamaka legion garrison.

The Hamaka legion, awakened by the sound of the trumpet, had not yet reacted, and by the time it did, Gummos's army had advanced less than 100 meters from the gate of its barracks. Then, Gumos and his army watched quietly as the Hamarca Regiment stood in a chaotic column with weapons in hand. Finally, Hamaca's corps put their ranks in order.

After discovering that there were less than 500 enemy troops outside the barracks, Hamaka confidently led 1,000 militiamen out of the barracks in a standard battle line posture; Just as his army was halfway out, 240 Cretan archers and 120 slingers, who had already been ambushed on the flanks, fired the first round of arrows and stones under Oscar's orders! The sudden blow made Hamaka at a loss, and hurriedly asked the army to ignore the formation and speed out of the barracks.