Virtue can be divided into two kinds: one is the virtue of wisdom, and the other is the virtue of behavior, the former is obtained from learning, and the latter is obtained from practice. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

- Aristotle (one of the great philosophers, scientists, and educators in the ancient history of the world)

Tiberius's total strength for the attack on the city-states of Athens and Sparta was nine legions, except for the Ninth Legion, which was to garrison the northernmost province of Dalmatia, the Tenth Legion, which was to garrison the unstable province of Aeturia, and the four leading legions, which were to be located in the province of Thessaly, and all the other Brutus legions were to participate in the battle.

The nine legions of the Brutus were 20,000 more troops than the 70,000 combined forces formed by the Athenian and Spartan city-states, but the total number of troops that could actually be used in war on both sides was not much different; In addition to the 70,000 allied troops stationed in the border area, the Athenian city-state had more than 20,000 troops to fight, and the Spartan city-state could fight no less than the Athenian city-state.

Considering the actual geographical location of the city-states of Athens and Sparta, it was almost impossible for the native armies of the Spartan city-states to be engaged in the battle between the Athenian city-states and the Brutus family, but the armies of the Athenian city-states were able to enter the battle in time.

In this way, the total number of troops that both sides can invest in the border area is about 90,000; In addition, the Brutus family had four leadership legions and two regular legions on its own territory, with a reserve of about 50,000 troops, while the alliance between the Athenian city-states and the Spartan city-states also had no less reserve than the Brutus family.

The city-state of Sparta had an elite army of at least 20,000, and the other Greek city-states in Attica, where the city-state of Athens was located, could also gather an army of about 20,000 people, plus an army that could be temporarily recruited in the Peloponnese; The city-states of Athens and Sparta could not have less than fifty thousand reserves that could be put into battle.

Without regard to quality, the army owned by the Brutus family did not have an absolute advantage over the combined armies of the city-states of Athens and Sparta; Even if the quality of the armies on both sides is taken into account, who can say that their own armies are more elite before the official war begins?

The army of the Athenian city-state was not very powerful, but the Spartan heavy infantry of the Spartan city-state was the world-famous super infantry, and from the perspective of foot combat alone, there was hardly any army in the world that could defeat the Spartan heavy infantry in the same number of people; There weren't even many armies that could be compared to the Spartan heavy infantry.

The main infantry of the Brutus family was the Roman legion hoplites, which were indeed inferior to the Spartan hoplites of the Spartan city-states in terms of combat effectiveness, but they were more than a step stronger than the ordinary Greek hoplites; No matter how powerful the Spartan hoplites were, their scarcity could not be changed, but the hoplites of the Brutus family had tens of thousands.

In addition, the three thousand five hundred ironclad cavalry owned by the Brutus family were not ornaments; Even if these 3,500 ironclad cavalry could not play a role in turning the tide of the battle, it was enough to deal with 5,000 Spartan heavy infantry.

The prestige of the ironclad cavalry of the Seleucid Empire was watered with the blood of countless enemies; In the war between the city-state of Pergamon and the Seleucid Empire in the past, it is also an indisputable fact that the Spartan hoplites of the Spartan city-state were not less tortured by the ironclad cavalry.

In general, the advantage of the Brutus family is still relatively large, and it is extremely difficult for the Athenian city-states and the Spartan city-states to resist the attack of the Brutus family by virtue of the union of their two city-states.

After Tiberius had assembled the army of the Brutus family, he led the powerful forces of nine legions to the border area; There, the 70,000-strong armies of the city-states of Athens and Sparta were waiting for the enemy to attack.

In order to take advantage of the military superiority of the Brutus, Tiberius divided the army of the nine legions of the Brutus family into three parts; Tiberius himself personally led the Fifth Legion of Osdis and the Sixth Legion of Amos, as well as the cavalry legion of Harold, to form the main central army, while the other six legions were deployed on the flanks of the main army.

On the left flank were the First Corps under the command of the commander of the First Corps, Ganeus, the Third Corps of Helenius, and Gabriel's Seventh Corps; On the right flank were the Second Legion, commanded by Nero, the commander of the Second Legion, Alvin's Fourth Legion, and Nelson's Eighth Legion.

The three-way army advanced in a zigzag posture, and the combined forces of the Athenian and Spartan city-states also reacted quickly after receiving information about the Brutus family's army; The 50,000 Allied pikemen were divided into ten phalanxes of 5,000 men by the Allied commander, and the remaining 10,000 Rhodesian slingers and 10,000 Greek cavalry were all assembled for use.

After the Athenian city-state determined that the number of troops of the Brutus family was as high as 90,000, it immediately sent the last 20,000 troops of its city-state to the coalition forces in the border area, increasing the strength of the coalition army from 70,000 to 90,000 in one fell swoop; Later, the Athenian city-state also took advantage of the fact that the army of the Brutus family did not reach the border area, and actively called on other city-states in the Attica region to send their troops to the war.

Behind the coalition is the almost undefended region of Attica, and if the coalition forces really can't stop the attack of the Brutus army, then all the Greek city-states in the Attica region will naturally not be spared; As a result, under the call of the Athenian city-state, the Greek city-states in the Attica region also enthusiastically sent their own city-state armies to the war.

In the five days that the Brutus army marched from Larissa to the border, the number of the Greek coalition soared from 70,000 to 110,000, and counting; If it weren't for the Brutus army, which had already arrived at the border, the Greek coalition might have even numbered 120,000!

Even if it did not reach the terrifying figure of 120,000, the Greek coalition had a huge army of more than 115,000; In order to deal with the three armies of the Brutus family, the commander of the Greek coalition army also divided his army into three routes, except for the most powerful army of the Chinese army, 55,000 troops, the other two roads also had 30,000 troops.

It's just that, compared with the strength of the three-way army of the Brutus family, the two wings of the Greek coalition army are much worse in quality than the main force of the Chinese army; The commander of the Greek coalition concentrated 5,000 Spartan hoplites and 10,000 Greek hoplites at the core of the Spartan city-state in the Chinese army, and even the 10,000 Rhodesian slingers and 10,000 Greek cavalry were also under the command of the Chinese army.

The other two armies deployed on the left and right flanks of the Chinese army were composed of 10,000 Greek hoplites and 20,000 follow-up reinforcements; The former were heavily armed pikemen from within the coalition army, while the latter were reinforced by the city-states of Athens and other Greek city-states in the Attica region, and their combat effectiveness was inferior to that of the coalition soldiers.

After the imposing army of the Brutus family arrived in the border area, they did not immediately start a war against the Greek coalition army, but slowly built a military camp in the border area to make a picture of a long-term confrontation; At this time, the new year was only two days away, and the Greeks took the New Year more seriously than the Romans, and they were not willing to engage in cruel warfare during the New Year.

In fact, this was just a ploy by Tiberius, in order to let down the vigilance of the Greek coalition on the opposite side; According to the military plan formulated by Tiberius, Gnaeus and Nero, the official attack of the Brutus army was on the day of the New Year!

Tiberius also knew that the Greek coalition had a greater numerical advantage, and that the army of the Brutus family was the one who took the initiative to provoke the war; A rash attack on the Greek coalition would inevitably arouse the hatred of the Greek coalition army, and would also increase the difficulty of the Brutus army's attack and the casualties it would have to pay.

Therefore, Tiberius chose the day of the beginning of the new year of the Greeks as the official time of the attack; In this way, the army of the Brutus family can be caught off guard by the Greek coalition army, as long as it can defeat the Greek coalition army in front of it in one fell swoop, then the day when the Brutus family will unify the entire Greek peninsula will not be far away.

Time passed little by little, and while the army of the Brutus family was preparing to attack in the barracks, the nearly 120,000 troops of the Greek coalition began to celebrate the New Year in the barracks; While the commanders of the coalition forces, who had always forbidden the drinking of alcohol in the army, allowed the soldiers to drink a glass of wine, the army of the Brutus family took action!

Tiberius's central army, with 3,500 ironclad cavalry of the cavalry corps as the vanguard, followed by Greek cavalry and javelin cavalry as reinforcements, took the lead in launching an attack on the Chinese military camp of the Greek coalition; The cavalry legions were followed by the Fifth Legion of Osis and the Sixth Legion of Amos, and the hoplites of these two legions also launched an all-out attack.

Just as Tiberius's Chinese army launched a full-scale attack on the central army of the Greek coalition, the three legions of Gnaeus's left flank also launched an attack on the 30,000 army of the right flank of the Greek coalition, and Nero's three legions on the right flank launched an attack on the 30,000 army of the left flank of the Greek coalition; The three-way army of the Brutus family will start the battle at the same time!

The Greek coalition army, which did not expect that the army of the Brutus family would attack on New Year's Day, immediately fell into chaos, but the fierce commander of the coalition army personally led 5,000 Spartan heavy infantry to the front of the barracks, buying precious time for the assembly of the army in the barracks.

In the face of the strong charge of the ironclad cavalry, the Spartan heavy infantry was also fearless of death, holding high spears and lining up in a neat formation to meet the ironclad cavalry; The battle between 3,500 ironclad cavalry and 5,000 Spartan heavy infantry was finally won by the ironclad cavalry. (To be continued.) )