Properly use reason to control love, there are advantages and disadvantages, and indiscriminate love like crazy is disadvantageous and not beneficial.

- Plautus (the most important comedy writer of ancient Rome)

The captains of the Brutus family, questioned by Aulus Brutus, were speechless; Later, Tiberius's third son, Vibius Brutus, also stood up and said, "Father, generals; We must not only look at our own growth in strength from the side of our family alone, but also look at our power from the perspective of the enemy.

Yes, our Brutus family now has an army of ten heavily armed legions and 10,000 auxiliary archers, with a total strength of 80,000 people; This data is much stronger than the former army of the Brutus family, and coupled with the replacement of weapons and equipment, it is not an exaggeration to describe the combat effectiveness of our army as even multiplying.

But didn't our enemies continue to grow and develop? The current kingdom of Epirus is not the kingdom of Epirus that single-handedly resisted our Brutus family, and Pyrus has won the support of the people of the entire Greek peninsula; The Greeks even regarded him as the hero and god of war of the Greek nation.

Pyrrhus now has an army of about 60,000 men, which is only 20,000 less than that of our Brutus family; And the crux of the matter is that our war against the Kingdom of Epirus is a war of cross-sea attacks. In addition to the remaining troops, how many troops can we transport to land in the kingdom of Epirus at one time?

You know, the 60,000 troops under Pyrus are always on guard against our Brutus family; Once our family's first landing armies are discovered, they will surely be attacked with all the might of the Epirus Kingdom's army. In this way, it will make our army of Brutus family become enemies that will be crushed by Pyrus one by one.

Therefore, I think that with the current strength of our Brutus family, we cannot form an absolute superiority over the army of the Epirus Kingdom, and the transportation capacity of the fleet is also insufficient; Instead of launching an attack on the Epirus Kingdom now, it is better to wait for our family to accumulate more strength and have a more powerful transportation force, and then launch an attack on the Epirus Kingdom with absolute superiority! ”

The successive speeches of Aulus Brutus and Vibius Brutus not only made Tiberius turn his mind to not start war for the time being, but also dispelled the idea of starting war in the hearts of some generals; After all, the analysis of Aulus and Vibius is still quite reasonable, and coupled with their special status, most generals are still unwilling to disobey them.

However, there are always some people in every family who are not afraid of power and dare to express their opinions, right? After Aulus and Vibius had finished their arguments, Ganeus stood up and retorted: "Your Excellency, Commanders, Generals; I disagree with Lord Aulus and Lord Vibius, and I think this is the best opportunity for the family to launch an attack on the kingdom of Epirus!

Now, we, the Brutus, are ready for war, and have completed all the expansion and training of the army; If we don't take advantage of the fact that we don't attack now, the longer it drags on, the less beneficial it will be for our Brutus family, but more and more the strength of the Epirus Kingdom will increase.

Pyrrhus had built up a very strong reputation at the last Battle of Tulbo, and the Greeks of the Greek peninsula worshipped and followed him regardless of the city-states; If we don't launch an attack on the kingdom of Epirus as soon as possible, we will completely eliminate the threat of Pyrus. As time passed, more and more Greeks would follow Pyrrhus, and the kingdom of Epirus would grow stronger.

And we, the Brutus, could not continue to be strong; Even if we can build more transports and ships, we may be able to expand the number of our legions. Otherwise, there is no need for the blow of the enemy at all; After a long time, our family will collapse on its own because we can't afford to raise so many troops.

Therefore, in my opinion, it is the best choice for our family to start a war immediately while our family has completed the preparation for war against the kingdom of Epirus; As long as we can annihilate the main army of the Kingdom of Epirus in one go, then our family will not only win the victory against the Kingdom of Epirus, but also gain a springboard to conquer the Greek Peninsula! ”

As soon as Gnieus finished speaking, Helenius, the commander of the Third Legion, couldn't help but stand up and retorted: "General Gnieus, what you said is really too thin; I think that the opinions of Lord Aulus and Lord Vibius are very correct, and for the current Brutus family, waiting for the war to start a war is a good choice!

You think that the current strength of our Brutus family is already the greatest strength, and it is almost impossible to feed an army of more than 80,000 people with the territory of our family's two provinces; I couldn't agree more. Moreover, I also think that even our family's ability to feed these 80,000 troops now depends on the strong support of His Excellency Sulla and His Excellency Pompey.

So, another question arises; How did the kingdom of Epirus in Pyrus use a mere provincial territory to feed an army of 60,000 men? He relied on nothing more than the centuries-old trade accumulation of the kingdom of Epirus; But how long can this accumulation be sustained? Three years? Five years? Or ten years?

I think that the longer it drags on, the better it will be for us Brutus; As long as we keep our current army in size, the kingdom of Epirus in Pirus will maintain their army numbers as well. In this way, sooner or later, the kingdom of Epirus will be dragged down by the huge army under the command of Pyrrhus; This is the best outcome for our Brutus family! ”

Heronius is the lieutenant general of the former Warhorse Legion and the confidant of Vibius, so it is reasonable for him to stand up for Vibius on such an occasion; However, his analysis is also very reasonable, at least in the sense of reason. The members of the Brutus family have been going back and forth against each other, and have come up with more reasons to prove their opinions.

Tiberius had intended to listen to the opinions of the generals to make his choice, but the generals of the Brutus family were bitterly arguing; This made Tiberius, who didn't know how to choose, feel even more confused. It just so happened that Tiberius suddenly discovered that Sulla and Pompey had not spoken; Tiberius interrupted the generals' argument and said to Sulla and Pompey:

"Your Excellency Sula, Your Excellency Pompey; You are now also one of the important members of our Brutus family, coupled with the strength of your respective families, I believe that you must have a more unique opinion on whether to start a war or not, I hope you can give me advice! ”

Listening to Tiberius's kind words, Sulla smiled and said, "Your Excellency the leader is too polite, we are just ordinary businessmen, how do we know whether we should start a war or not." However, I do have some information about the Kingdom of Epirus here, and I hope to provide a reference for the generals.

In the first place, as the generals have analyzed, the kingdom of Epirus of Pyrrhus did establish a strong prestige in the Greek peninsula after its victory at the Battle of Tulbo; To this day, people from different city-states in the Greek Peninsula go to the kingdom of Epirus every day to join Pyrrhus and follow Pyrrhus without complaint.

In addition, the treasury of the Kingdom of Epirus has much more wealth than you think; According to the information our family has obtained in trade, the treasury of the Kingdom of Epirus should have enough wealth for an army of 100,000 for twenty years! Of course, this is only an estimated number and is not necessarily true; Whether you can believe it or not depends on whether you want to believe it or not.

In addition, the kingdom of Epirus was not as united as you think; Although the vast majority of the people of the Epirus Kingdom supported their King Pyrrhus, there were also some powerful people who were unwilling to support Pyrrhus. They opposed Pyrrhus against the attacks of the Brutus, preferring to be protected by the powerful Brutus. ”

After Sulla's suggestive words were finished, Pompey also said with a smile on his face: "Your Excellency Sulla has already said it for me, what I want to say is; If the generals are concerned that the Brutus fleet does not have enough transports to allow a large army to land in the Kingdom of Epirus at once, this problem can be left to me and His Excellency Sulla.

Although His Excellency Sulla and I were just ordinary merchants, we had made many acquaintances of the sea in the course of our business; In addition, most of our family's trade is by sea, and our family itself owns a large number of transport ships. If the Brutus family needs it, we can provide the Brutus family with enough ships to transport 50,000 troops! ”

Tiberius and the generals were not fools, and although Sulla and Pompey did not give any opinion of their own, they all supported the Brutus family in their attack on the kingdom of Epirus; With the strong support of Sulla and Pompey, Tiberius also made up his mind.

Tiberius, who had made up his mind, stood up from his throne, looked around at the generals, and said in a deep voice: "Since the treasury of the Kingdom of Epirus cannot be exhausted for a while, then let us officially launch another attack on the Kingdom of Epirus; Before attacking, I need to make a request to His Excellency Sula Pompey that they can support us with enough transports. ”

When Tiberius had said this, he turned his gaze to Sulla and Pompey; The generals also followed Tiberius's gaze and turned their gaze to Sulla and Pompey. Facing everyone's gaze, Sulla and Pompey looked at each other and smiled, stood up and said, "It is our honor to be able to serve the Brutus family and His Excellency the leader!" (To be continued.) )