There is no more pleasant amusement for God than to see if a man can fight against an unfortunate fate.

- Seneca (famous Stoic philosopher of ancient Roman times)

The rest went well, and the other two thousand long shield cavalry of the Jugurdah Regiment also surrendered on the orders of Juguda; Hannibal personally led the Legion of the Templars to the city of Quselle. Although Himika had not seen the Templar cavalry, Himicus had seen it in the Carthaginian barracks; Coupled with the appearance of Hannibal himself, the Himika brothers also immediately went out of the city with their army.

However, the Himika brothers were extremely dissatisfied with the surrender of the Jugurdah Legion; They still had a strong sense of hostility towards Jughudah, and they couldn't accept that Jugurdah had become a member of the Carthaginian army. And Juguda himself had doubts about this, and in order to solve these problems, Hannibal decided to rest for a night in the city of Qusser.

When Hannibal offered to let Juguda bring 4,000 cavalry into the city to rest, Juguda refused with an embarrassed face; Hannibal looked at the Himika brothers, who were extremely dissatisfied, and agreed to the request of the Jugurdah army to be stationed outside the city. Of course, Jugurdah himself had to go to Qusayr after arranging for the garrison of his legions, and Hannibal's affair with him had only just begun.

After ordering the defenders of Qusayr to take the soldiers of the Legion of the Holy Order to the camp in the city, Hannibal took the Shimika brothers to the Lord's Mansion in the city of Qusayr and began to talk to them about the Jugurdah Legion. The Himika brothers naturally understood what Hannibal meant, so as soon as they entered the study, the impulsive Himika was the first to speak:

"General Hannibal, why did you accept the surrender of the capricious villain Juguda? He was originally the king of the Sahara, but he willingly submitted to the Numidians and sent an army to attack us. If it weren't for General Vimyna's sneak attack, which burned all the hundred war elephants under his command, he would have brought us huge losses.

Moreover, he could have been forced to surrender to the Kingdom of Numidia by the strength of the Kingdom of Numidia; Now, forced by our superiority, they have turned to surrender to us. How can such a two-faced villain be trusted? Not to mention. His legion also killed and wounded 2,000 of our men outside the city of Qusel; Even if we are willing to accept them, our brothers are not! ”

Himiko's words, though impulsive, are not unreasonable; Aside from Zhuguda's character, even the killing and wounding of the Qusayr defenders by his legions is also an irreconcilable contradiction between the two sides?.?? 'Still. Hannibal's point of departure is not at all; Between that, Hannibal smiled at the Himika brothers and said:

"I have come to you today to thank you for your great contribution to Carthage. If it weren't for the fact that you were alone in Khosayr, dragging a part of the Numidian army to the death. Tapsus, which Vimini held on, may fall under the siege of more enemies, and I will not be able to counterattack the kingdom of Numidia at this time.

Now, the Numidian army on the Western Front has been completely annihilated. The whole province of Numidia has been taken by us; This time, in addition to the 15,000 troops I sent out to occupy the province of Numidia, I also personally led 30,000 troops to attack the main force of Zuguta. Add to this your army of 7,000 and the army of General Vermina, and we have a sealed victory! ”

"What?! You have completely annihilated the Numidian army on the Western Front and captured the capital province of the Kingdom of Numidia! The news brought by Hannibal made the jaws of the Himika brothers, who had been locked up in Qusel, drop in surprise, and the two of them stood up and exclaimed. Looking at the astonished Himika brothers, Hannibal continued:

"It's true! However, the end of this war does not mean that our Carthaginian kingdom can always sit back and relax, and this attack of the Numidian kingdom is a wake-up call for us. Our enemies may not only be the Spaniards in the Iberian Peninsula and the Romans in the Apennines, but perhaps these careerists in North Africa should also be included. ”

"But how can we guard against the rise of these North African countries? We suppressed the kingdom of Numidia for two hundred years. But they rose anyway; Even if we defeat one Numidian kingdom today, who can guarantee that there will not be a second or third Numidian kingdom tomorrow? Himika asked involuntarily.

Himika's problem made Hannibal's eyes shine, and it was not easy for this Himika to think of this, as long as he honed more, he would also be a master in the future; Coupled with the assistance of his brother Himiko, a powerful general, it is also good. So, Hannibal continued to patiently express his thoughts and thoughts:

"That's why I accepted Jugudah's surrender; After this war, we will once again establish Carthage's supremacy in North Africa. But how to secure our supremacy is the key; The total occupation of the kingdom of Numidia outweighed the losses. My initial idea was to divide and conquer the kingdom of Numidia, dividing the whole kingdom into smaller kingdoms.

These small kingdoms will all become vassals of our Carthage, but they will have no connection with each other, but will be full of contradictions; In order to stimulate the contradictions between them. I am ready to keep Jugurdah and let him rebuild his kingdom in the Sahara. In this way, the countries of North Africa will be plunged into a new quagmire of war, and we will be the arbiters alone! ”

Hannibal's plan was strongly supported by the Himika brothers, who also said that they could accept the surrender of Jugurdah for the sake of Carthage's overlord of North Africa; But. They also said that even if they accepted the surrender of Jugurdah and his legions, they would not give Juguda a good face. Hannibal laughed it off at this.

After settling the matter of the Himika brothers, the next step is to interview Jugurdah; After sending off the Himika brothers, Hannibal asked his attendants to invite Jugurdah to his study. Hannibal sat on the main seat of the study, looked at Jugurdah, who walked in and was about to kneel down on one knee, and said directly:

"General Zhuguda, there is no need to be polite; I have called you today to discuss with you the affairs of your Jugurdah Legion and the Saharan Kingdom. It is impossible for the kingdom of Numidia to win this war, and the head of Zuguta is also my necessary trophy; I wonder what General Juguda thinks about this? ”

When Jugurdah heard Hannibal's words, he not only did not stop kneeling on one knee, but completed the bow more respectfully; Then he stood up and said unhurriedly:

"General Hannibal, the guilty general Djugurdah is too afraid to be the commander of the army and the governor; The so-called Zhuguda Legion is just a momentary madness of the criminal general, and it is hoped that the general will personally send someone to take over the legion. As for the Sahara province, it would be one of the most inseparable provinces of the Carthaginian kingdom, and the sin would not dare to covet it. ”

Hannibal naturally understood the hypocrisy of Jugudah; But. Proper hypocrisy and grief are also essential. Hannibal had to pretend to be polite and said:

"General Zhuguda is a hero who has set things right, but he is not a criminal general; Therefore do not say any more hungry words such as the sin general. As for the Jugurdah Legion and the Sahara Province; I mean that General Jugurdah continued to be the commander of the Jugurdah Corps, and the Sahara province was reinstated as the Saharan kingdom, once again as a vassal kingdom of our Carthage. General Juguda. What do you think? ”

Jugurdah quickly fell to his knees and replied, "The sin will be coerced by the kingdom of Numidia into the kingdom of Carthage, and this sin is already unforgivable; General Hannibal is already a great blessing for the general to be magnanimous and forgive the life of the general, and the general really does not dare to serve as the commander of the army and the king anymore, and hopes that General Hannibal will take back his life! ”

"General Juguda, this is embarrassing me. After all, the Kingdom of the Sahara is one of the oldest vassal kingdoms of our Kingdom of Carthage; Is it to destroy the friendship left by our ancestors in the hands of our generation? If General Jugurdah still refuses to accept the position of Legion Commander and King, then he is not willing to be a friend of our Carthaginian Kingdom! ”

At this point, Hannibal's tone is in place; Jugurdah also knew that this was the time to accept. So, Zhu Guda pretended to be grateful with tears in his eyes, and said silently: "Since General Hannibal trusts the criminal general so much, the criminal general must be ruined and serve General Hannibal to the death!" The Sahara Kingdom will also be the most loyal vassal of General Hannibal and the Kingdom of Carthage! ”

Now that the sensationalism of the false and the snake was almost over, Jugurdah also accepted the position of captain of the legion and the seat of the Sahara kingdom; There are some other arrangements about Hannibal to start as well. In fact, both of them know each other's desires very tacitly; Hannibal understood that the Jugurdah Legion and the Sahara Kingdom would definitely be Jugurdah's, unless Jugurdah died.

And Jugurdah knows it. These things belong to you; But without Hannibal's appointment and giving, these things would have been absolutely unacceptable. Even if you accept these things, some appropriate efforts must be made; Otherwise, Hannibal would have had no problem propping up one or two puppet kings in the distant Sahara.

Jugurdah had already gotten what he wanted, and the rest certainly didn't need to be said by Hannibal; After all, Hannibal had already spoken out his demands at the beginning. After collecting his tears and disguise, Juguda said to Hannibal's seemingly sincere words:

"General Hannibal, now the army of Thuguta has withdrawn to the great Leptis of Tripoli; And he had an army of less than 40,000 men under his command. Even if it temporarily recruited some young men in Tripoli, its combat effectiveness was not worth mentioning at all; In addition to the 30,000 troops that came to support you at this time, there are also nearly 20,000 troops of Baisassion.

Although you will have an army of nearly 50,000 elite divisions under your command. But the 40,000 troops under the command of Tulguta were not lightly followed; Coupled with the support of a famous player like Ahmed, it is not easy to end the war as soon as possible. If the Libyan province of the Kingdom of Numidia had sent reinforcements, the fighting would have been even more severe.

However, the strongest fortresses are often breached from within; I have a plan to penetrate the Numidian army. Because the news of my surrender to you has not yet been circulated. As long as you are assured; So I led four thousand cavalry under my command to march on the Great Leptis in the name of retreat. Tsuguta shouldn't question my retreat, and when the time comes, we'll be able to take the city in one fell swoop!" ”

Jugurdah's plan is what Hannibal wants Jugurdah to do, but Hannibal doesn't want to believe that Jugurdah is so easy to take the risk; So Hannibal looked at Jugurdah with a smile and said:

"General Juguda, are you really sure you want to do this? You have to understand. Once your deception plan fails; Or what you show when you enter the Great Leptis. With tens of thousands of enemy troops around you, are you and your legions really willing to take such a risk to deceive the city? ”

Zhu Guda looked at Hannibal with a firm face, and replied with great affirmation: "General Hannibal, please rest assured, you treat me with sincerity, and I will naturally repay you for fearlessness." If I can't do what I can for the general, how can I be the commander of the Jugurdah Legion and the king of the Sahara and the loyalists under your command?! ”

"Good! Since General Djuguda insists on this, then I will no longer dissuade you; In order to hide people's eyes, you should lead the army out tonight. Rest assured that I will not let the Numidian scouts get the slightest word about your troubles; On the day we take the Great Leptis together, I'll celebrate you again! ”

With that, Jugurdah told Hannibal to take his leave and return to the barracks outside the city; Hannibal followed him to the city wall and watched the movements of the Jugurdah's legion.

Two chapters a day, both of which are large chapters of nearly 4,000 words, and at least more than 3,008; Kneel down and beg for tickets and subscriptions in the hands of book friends! (To be continued.) )

ps: Yesterday a new subscription 1o7, this is an unprecedented good result in chasing the wind and "Empire", thank you for your strong support, thank you very much! I hope that book lovers can continue to support Chasing the Wind and continue to support "Empire"; Chasing the wind is grateful!