People live only in dreams, and only philosophers struggle to wake up. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

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

By the time the battle was at its end, there were less than 5,000 men left under Hannibal's command; In other words, less than one-tenth of Hannibal's army of 55,000 when he came to the Zama Plain was gone.

In contrast, the casualty figures of the Augustan army are more optimistic; From a rough point of view, the 40,000-strong army of the House of Augustus still has at least 20,000 troops still fighting.

The main reason for this huge difference in casualties was that Hannibal concentrated too many low-fighting troops under his command; Whether it was a mercenary force with a bite back, or a Greek legion that couldn't withstand even a round of attacks, it was Hannibal himself who chose them.

To put it bluntly, of Hannibal's army of 55,000, no more than 25,000 were actually killed on the battlefield, and the rest were killed by friendly forces when they fled in all directions, or were pursued and exterminated by the cavalry of the Augustus family.

Even the nearly 20,000 troops killed and wounded by the Augustan family were mostly killed by the 24,000 troops commanded by Hannibal himself; Of course, Theophanes' mercenary forces also killed a considerable part of the Augustus army.

As for the 12,000 troops under Mahabal, their presence had little effect other than to affect the morale of Hannibal's army; This is not to say that Mahabar is incompetent, it can only be said that the combat effectiveness of the Greek legions and the Carthaginian militia is too poor!

At this time, among the less than 5,000 Hannibal soldiers left on the battlefield, there were no more miscellaneous troops and mercenaries, all of them were the elite troops that Hannibal brought from Carthage; Their will to fight is no worse than that of the soldiers of the Augustus family.

In addition, Hannibal's personal command, as well as the dismounting of generals such as Mahabal and Theophanis to participate in the war; The momentum of Hannibal's soldiers is still strong, and they are still fighting unrelentingly!

Even the ironclad cavalry had blocked the last breakthrough of Hannibal's troops, and those soldiers who finally Hannibal did not give up the battle, they were still fighting for their idol and the god of war, even if they knew that this was an impossible battle to win!

After encircling Hannibal's 5,000 remnants, the remaining less than 5,000 hoplites and less than 3,000 soldiers of the Guards Infantry Corps, plus about 6,000 light infantry, the nearly 15,000 infantry of the Augustan family formed a huge encirclement, and began to gradually compress the living space of Hannibal's army.

In addition to the nearly fifteen thousand troops, the Augustus family had about five thousand cavalry units on the periphery of the entire encirclement; There were still more than a thousand ironclad cavalry and nearly 4,000 javelin cavalry, and they could finally relax on the periphery.

The situation on the battlefield was almost completely settled at this moment, and Hannibal, without any reinforcements, was completely exhausted; Even if the city-state of Syrac, its only ally in Sicily, were to send troops immediately, it would not be possible to change the tide of the war.

You know, the current city-state of Syrac is only 3,000 Spartan hoplites; The current situation on the battlefield is no longer changeable, what can be done with only 3,000 Spartan heavy infantry?

The five thousand cavalry of the Augustus family who remained mobile on the periphery were enough to keep the three thousand Spartan hoplites of the ancient city of Syrac alive; After all, there were a full 1,000 ironclad cavalry among the 5,000 cavalry!

Three thousand Spartan heavy infantry, if there are thousands of other pikemen to cooperate, then the role it can play is still very strong; If there is special terrain, it can also play a greater role.

Unfortunately, the battlefield in front of us was in the Zama Plain, a battlefield that was extremely suitable for cavalry and hoplites; In the face of highly mobile cavalry, a small number of elites cannot play much role, nor is it enough to influence the tide of battle.

So, in the light of these practical considerations, Hannibal's defeat was only a matter of time; The 5,000 remnants of the army under his command were just stubborn resistance, but they continued to add casualties to the decisive battle between the two sides.

In fact, Oscar still admires Hannibal very much in his heart; Where can I find a pure general like Hannibal, who has the tactical command ability of the god of war, who has no ambition for a higher position, and who is loyal to his own nation?

Oscar knew that there would only be one person like Hannibal in the whole world, and it would be almost impossible to have another in the future; Oscar is really reluctant to let Hannibal go to the end here, he deserves a better stage.

Looking at Mahabal, who continued to lead the army to kill, and those soldiers who died without hesitation, Oscar's heart was also touched; Perhaps, this long-prepared decisive battle between the two sides should end here.

However, Oscar did not make a decision on his own selfishness either, and he first turned his inquiring gaze to Mary beside him; When Mary saw Oscar's gaze, she smiled very tacitly, and then nodded.

With Mary's support, Oscar also officially made up his mind in his heart; Immediately, Oscar asked Nusis behind him to order the trumpeters to blow the horn to stop the attack.

When the muffled sound of the horn resounded throughout the battlefield, Luquis and other generals did not understand why Oscar ordered to stop the attack at such a critical moment; However, the Augustan family's principle of obeying the orders of the leader has been deeply ingrained in the bones of every soldier. Even with their current advantage, they still decisively chose to obey the order and began to slowly retreat backwards.

Since the soldiers of the Augustan family, who had an absolute advantage, took the initiative to retreat, those Hannibal soldiers who desperately resisted naturally would not continue to fight without interest, and they also retreated to the center of the encirclement and began to seize the time to rest.

Not only did the hard-fought warriors lean together physically and mentally to seize the time to rest, but even the famous general Mahabar under Hannibal, who had always been known for his bravery and good fighting, sat weakly on the ground; In the huge encirclement, the only one left standing was Hannibal.

When the army of the Augustus family was almost 200 meters away from the Hannibal soldiers in the encirclement, Luquis and other generals stabilized the formation of the soldiers under their command; Afterwards, Oscar personally took the guards to Luquis.

Luquis and the others did not challenge Oscar's decision, and Oscar had no intention of explaining; After simply instructing Lucis to lead the army for a temporary rest, Oscar took it upon himself to lead his guards onwards.

After Licinius and other generals found out about Oscar's move, they immediately wanted to rush up to stop Oscar, but they were all stopped by Luquis with his hand; Faced with Luquis's shaking of his head, Licinius and other generals had no choice but to retreat back to their original places.

Oscar is not an impulsive person, much less a person who would put himself in danger; So, after walking about a hundred meters forward, there was still a distance of about a hundred meters from Hannibal's remnants, and Oscar stopped and quietly looked at Hannibal not far away.

Hannibal also understood that Oscar's sudden order to abandon the attack at this time must have had another purpose; However, his heart was full of bitterness. I finally failed, and this defeat at the Battle of Zama was the first and last defeat in my life; Perhaps, this is their own sorrow, they can only win but not lose. Hannibal thought.

No matter what Oscar's move was for, Hannibal still resolutely rode in the direction of Oscar alone; Seeing Hannibal coming slowly like a lonely knight, Oscar couldn't help but admire it in his heart.

You must know that judging from the current situation, if the army of the Augustus family wants to completely annihilate the last 5,000 remnants of Hannibal's army in front of them, it will need to pay at least nearly 3,000 casualties, or more.

And Hannibal, who came alone to deal with Oscar and the nearly a hundred guards behind him; To put it bluntly, as long as Oscar's hand moves slightly, Hannibal will end up being killed on the spot.

Obviously, Oscar is not the kind of despicable and shameless villain, and he also has his own pride in his heart; Hannibal also understands that anyone who has the ability will have his own principles and pride, Hannibal himself is such a person, and Oscar undoubtedly belongs to this kind of person.

After Hannibal came to a place only ten meters away from Oscar, Oscar stared directly at Hannibal's haggard face and said sincerely:

"General Hannibal, you have done your best; I won't tell you the truth, before you and I fought the decisive battle, the elders of the native kingdom of Carthage had already contacted us. In other words, you are simply fighting against us and the Kingdom of Carthage behind you.

Even if you win this war, you can't always dodge the arrows behind you; Moreover, the power of Rome is not limited to me, the Augustan family. So, General Hannibal, surrender, a kingdom like Carthage is not worthy of your allegiance. ”

When Oscar confessed to Hannibal about his alliance with the Carthaginian Senate, Hannibal's face did not show any expression fluctuations, which surprised Oscar, who originally planned to use this incident to break Hannibal's psychological defense.

Hannibal didn't disappoint the Oscars either, though; Although he ignored Oscar's statement, he still agreed to Oscar's proposal. Hannibal, who had always been as strong as a mountain, finally chose to surrender; And his only condition is that Oscar must be kind to those surrendered troops under his command.

After receiving Oscar's unwavering promise, Hannibal turned his horse's head back into the encirclement with a blank face, and announced the order to surrender to his soldiers; After that, Hannibal rode his horse alone. Suddenly, Oscar seems to think of something, but it's too late; Hannibal had already drawn his short sword from his waist and plunged it into his chest! (To be continued.) )