As long as a person has the patience to cultivate culture, he will never be so arrogant that he cannot be instructed.

- Horace (founder and founder of Roman classicism)

While Oscar was secretly thinking about how to restrain the General Staff internally and externally, Anne also came to the conference room to look for Mary after the fleet officially departed; Mary naturally stood up at Anne's call and left the conference room with Anne. At this time, Oscar was left alone in the quiet conference room, slowly thinking about the future.

The new military port built by the Augustan family on Sardinia is not in the same place as the original Sardinian port, but rather far away; The location of the port of Sardinia is the best in the whole of Sardinia, but the location of the military port is established on the coast of the south-east of Sardinia that is easy to defend and more suitable for military ports.

The proximity of the newly established military port to Calaris, the capital of Sardinia, is greater than that of the Sardinian port, and in this respect the military value of the military port is more sufficient; However, this also creates another drawback, which is that the two ports are located due south and northeast of Calaris, respectively, and the distance between the two ports has become longer.

This is a disadvantage in terms of transportation and traffic, and it can also be regarded as an advantage of hiding military secrets; Which aspect is more prominent, then the benevolent and the wise will see the wise. However, one of the biggest advantages of the military port is that it has been considered when the site is selected; That is, the distance between Sicily and mainland Rome is even closer!

If only the distance from the military port to Sicily is taken into account, then the journey from the military port to Sicily is almost a day and a half shorter than from the port of Sardinia; If you consider the distance from the military port to the Roman mainland, then the journey from the military port to the mainland of Rome is a whole two days shorter than from the port of Sardinia!

Of course, this site selection arrangement is not without its drawbacks; Because at the time of site selection, the Augustan family was still quite closely connected with Rome proper, and the territory of the Augustan family did not extend to the western Mediterranean. There is no intersection with the North African powers. Therefore, the biggest disadvantage of the military port is that the distance from the North African continent and the western Mediterranean family territory is too far away.

If only the distance from the military port to the North African continent is considered, then the voyage from the military port to the North African mainland is nearly two days shorter than the departure from the Sardinian port; If you take into account the distance from the military port to the territory of the Western Mediterranean, then the journey from the military port to the territory of the Western Mediterranean is a full three days longer than from the port of Sardinia!

This is one of the important reasons why the Augustus family did not use the military port during the last Balearic War and the Betica War; The progress of war always requires the speed of the soldiers. Such a delay of several days was a real delay for the fighters. Coupled with the drastic changes in the situation in Rome, the role of the original military port to strengthen the connection with Rome mainland was greatly reduced, because there was no connection with each other.

However, Oscar finally felt that such a military port location was the right one; Nothing can be done just to the immediate gains and losses, the long-term interests are the real focus to consider. For the House of Augustus, conquests outside of Rome were crucial; But in order to achieve the final victory, it is not enough to rely on these alone.

In Oscar's view, there are four parts of the world that are best suited for imperial greatness: the Apennine Peninsula in Roman proper, and the Greek Peninsula divided between the Greek city-states and the Macedonian kingdom. The Nile Plain, occupied by the Kingdom of Egypt, and the fragmented and fertile East!

Whether it was the Greek peninsula, which was occupied by the Greek city-states and the Macedonian kingdom, or the Nile plain, which was occupied by the Egyptian kingdom, or the fragmented but rich and fertile eastern regions; All of them are unattainable existences of the House of Augustus. The House of Augustus was definitely not strong enough to cross the seas and carry out large-scale conquests; Therefore, the only target was Rome itself.

If the House of Augustus were not able to take Rome proper, then the House of Augustus would have lost hope of victory; Of course, the powerful forces here do not include Marius. For the Latin provinces that Marius finally controlled were not enough to pose a threat to any one of the great powers.

Oscar's real concern was for the Julius family in the north and the Brutus family in the south; As for the family of Scipio. After the death of Scipio the Elder and Amrius, they were no more than second-rate families under the banner of the Five Great Families. Even the Scipio family has a rich heritage. But the incompetence of its leader will eventually drag down the entire Scipio family!

The Julius family in the north, on the other hand, had completely occupied all the Gallic territories south of the Alps, and had become the most powerful power in the entire Roman Republic. What's more, neither the Gallic barbarians north of the Alps nor the independent kingdoms east of the Alps have the strength to defend against the Julius family!

This means: After the Ulius family has rested and stabilized the situation, it is entirely possible to continue to attack to the east or west in order to expand the Ulius family's sphere of influence. Whether the increasingly powerful Julius family would start a Roman civil war at the right time became a key factor in the rise of the Augustan family.

If Julius had brought the entire Latin province and even Rome itself under its rule before Augustus; Then the Julius family will become the real king of the Roman families. The end of the House of Augustus. At best, it is just a local power that is in a corner of the country.

However, Oscar's concern about the Julius family is not as serious as he thought; This is all thanks to the outstanding performance of Carabess. The rise of Carabis Jr. within the Julius family is really faster than Oscar's best prediction, so Oscar is not worried about the difficulty of restricting the development of the Julius family in the end; Because the existence of Calabess is so valuable!

The other is the Brutus family, which has always occupied the two provinces in the south of Rome proper; Although the Brutus family suffered heavy losses from the Epirus Kingdom when they rashly attacked the Kingdom of Epirus before, and even achieved the myth of Pyrus, the god of war on the Greek Peninsula, at the cost of the annihilation of three legions, this did not affect the vigorous development of the Brutus family.

The three legions that had been annihilated were reorganized, and their commanders were all veterans of the Brutus family, who had been reused; Coupled with the powerful combat power of the entire Brutus family, no one dares to underestimate this family! Oscar's concern was that once the Brutus family defeated Pyrrhus' army on the battlefield and completed the conquest of the kingdom of Epirus; That's a disaster!

The corrupt Macedonian kingdom and the Greek city-states that had never been at peace could never be a match for the Brutus, as long as the Brutus family was given time to slowly annex the entire Greek peninsula; So even if the Brutus family loses all their territory in Rome, they still have absolutely strong strength for them to achieve the king's hegemony!

This can't help but make Oscar sigh that many times the unique geographical conditions are still very important; At the very least, there are always many alternative paths for the forces with such geographical conditions. And those forces that do not have such geographical conditions are more tragic, because they must make more efforts if they want to stand on the same starting line as others!

Of course, such feelings are not absolute; For example, the Greek city-states or the Macedonian kingdom. They all have unparalleled geographical advantages, but they have never built their own countries into prosperity and strength; On the contrary, he indulged in internal internal strife all day long. Especially the Macedonian kingdom, whose ancestor Alexander the Great left the most successful experience for them, they achieved nothing!

Oscar's ramblings finally came to an end because of nightfall, and the dinner on the battleship was naturally relatively simple bread and fruit; This is still Oscar's special treatment, and ordinary fighters only eat bread. Oscar, Anne, and Mary were the only people to have dinner with, and Rakka chose to nibble on bread alone in his room.

Life on a battleship was very monotonous, which Oscar had long been accustomed to, plus the pouring rain was still falling on the sea at this time; After dinner, Oscar had to go back to his room to sleep. Naturally, Mary shared a bedroom with Anne, which also made Oscar's heart fall short again.

The only thing that comforted Oscar was that the room Oscar slept in tonight was Mary's bedroom on the original Annie; The whole room is still small and dark like a cabin, but the traces of Mary's life still make Oscar feel very warm. And so, in the bed where Mary had slept; Oscar thought about his own affairs and slowly fell asleep.

It is estimated that Oscar is the only one who can sleep peacefully like this night, and Mary and Anne have not seen each other for so long, so they will naturally talk about the private room for the night; Raqqa is also choked by Oscar's education today, and he is tossing and turning in the room thinking about the future. Time passed little by little, and inadvertently a new day came!

The next morning, the sea was calm; The rainy weather was replaced by the rising sun. The weather was extremely favorable for navigation, and the whole fleet was moving at an extremely fast pace in the direction of the Latin provinces. At this moment, two fleets that were fighting slowly appeared on the sea not far from the front of the fleet!

Ask for tickets and subscriptions, please! (To be continued.) )