If we fight by faith, we are doubly armed. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

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

The two slowly rode their horses to the meeting point of the two armies, and there were thousands of cavalry with sabre-rattling more than fifty meters behind each other; However, the two are as calm as friends they haven't seen for a long time.

Oscar, after riding his horse to Hannibal's side, did not continue to ride on his horse, but turned off his horse and stared at the shield cavalry behind Hannibal; Hannibal then also rolled over and dismounted, standing side by side with Oscar.

Suddenly, Hannibal turned to Oscar and asked, "Your Excellency, why are you Romans always so aggressive?" Do you Romans have to rule the world before you give up? ”

In the face of Hannibal's question, Oscar just shook his head helplessly, and then said with a long sigh: "It was never the Romans who wanted to rule the world, but this chaotic world will always have careerists. This is true of us Romans, and is it not like that of you Carthaginians? ”

Oscar's answer left Hannibal speechless; In a sense, the very existence of war is the product of one or two careerists, so who is right and who is wrong?

This silence did not last long, and after carefully observing Hannibal's long shield cavalry, Oscar pointed to these long shield cavalry in front of him and smiled at Hannibal and said:

"General Hannibal, these shield cavalry under your command are the most elite cavalry units I have ever seen; Perhaps, there are armies in this world that are more powerful than them, but it is impossible for an army to have a stronger will to fight than them! ”

Oscar's praise made Hannibal, who was an enemy, stunned for a moment; Immediately, Hannibal also praised from the bottom of his heart:

"Your Excellency Oscar, the strength of your family should not be underestimated! Just over two years ago, your family was a vassal family of the Maxentius family, one of the four great families of Rome; It was even more devastating on the island of Sardinia that it almost collapsed.

Who would have dared to imagine that you inherited the mighty Augustan family at the age of twenty and led the Augustus family to this point in just two years. Truth be told, all things being equal, you do better than anyone else; The Augustus family can be where they are today, and it is all thanks to your Oscar alone! ”

"General Hannibal's words are a compliment to me! I, Oscar, am not a humble person, and I used to be pretentious; But after really going through a lot, I really realized that the world is very big and there are many capable people. I'm just a coincidence of more than 200 years of Augustus' accumulation, and I'm not a great person.

Comparatively, I still admire you more General Hannibal! Although our identity is that of an enemy, our country and nation are always at war; However, I have to admit that you are the best general in the world to fight, there is no one. Your name is worthy of the name of the god of war!

In this life, to be able to be your enemy of Hannibal is also an honor for me Oscar and our Augustan family; I hope that one day in the future, after the war is completely over, we can put aside all national hatred and family hatred and become true friends. ”

Oscar's sincere words, coupled with a smiling face, involuntarily made Hannibal have a deep affection for Oscar; Perhaps, if the two were born in the same country, it was really possible for them to become real best friends. It's a pity that the birth of the two decided the fate of the two; In this life, the two are destined to be either friends and enemies!

However, Hannibal still did not refuse Oscar's invitation to make friends; He also smiled freely, and then replied dignifiedly:

"Good! Then we will be sure that it will come to the day when the swords are put into the warehouse, and the horses and sheep are herded; I will definitely visit Your Excellency at the House of Augustus. When the time comes, we'll drink and race horses and talk all night long! ”

At the end of his sentence, Hannibal did not hesitate to turn on his horse again, and rode away towards his cavalry; As Hannibal went away, Hannibal's voice came: "Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, on the plain of Zama, we will fight to the death!" ”

Oscar watched Hannibal leave, and sighed helplessly in his heart; The inevitable war has finally arrived. Today's meeting, perhaps, is just Hannibal's desire to meet the opponent of this decisive battle; And I was invited to come just to see Hannibal with my own eyes.

In the autumn of 269 BC, the day after Oscar's meeting with Hannibal, the famous Battle of Zama began.

In the early morning of this day, the two sides poured out of their nests, and each set up troops on the Zama Plain, ready to tear apart.

Oscar had about 40,000 troops, including two full-fledged legions and three special legions of the Roman army, plus 5,000 Numidian cavalry, bringing the total cavalry strength to 9,000!

Compared to the early Roman army, Oscar's cavalry was very strong, with a Roman legion of less than 300 cavalry at that time, and more than 1,000 during the Second Punic War. This was entirely due to Oscar's Numidian policy, and his foresight, which allowed him to have six thousand six hundred of the best cavalry from Numidia.

Hannibal had a slight advantage in strength, with a total strength of about 55,000, of which about 4,000 were cavalry. Cavalry was Hannibal's trump card, and the impact of having to abandon cavalry when he left Carthage in a hurry could not be eliminated, and the Vimini reinforcements he had hoped for had not yet arrived.

This forced Hannibal to use his highly mobile tactics and had to resort to traditional hoplite warfare. However, Hannibal also had eighty war elephants, which was a very powerful force for heavy tactics.

In order to deal with Hannibal's war elephants, Oscar slightly changed the Roman convention. The central army was the Roman hoplites, and on the left flank was the Roman-Italian cavalry, about two thousand men, commanded by Lilias. On the right flank were 6,000 Numidian infantry, and on the outer flanks were 4,600 elite Numidian cavalry under the command of Masinissa.

The hoplites were routinely divided into three rows, the first platoon was the daredevils who resisted the onslaught of the enemy, the second platoon was the main force of the battle, and the third platoon, a little further away from the first two platoons, were the reserves. Usually there is a gap between the brigades in each row, about the width of a hundred-man team, and the brigades in the rear columns are staggered against this space.

But this time, Oscar completely aligned the squadrons in the front and back columns, and slightly widened the gap between the hundreds, so that dozens of passages were opened in the entire battle formation. The lightly armoured soldiers, who usually stood in front of the hoplites, were scattered by Oscar in the aisles of the first row.

Oscar did this so that when he was hit by a war elephant, he could open the passage at any time and let the war elephant pass through it, so as to reduce the impact of the war elephant on the opposing team.

Hannibal's formation was also extraordinary, as he had three complete battle formations with superior infantry, each of which fought independently and had its own independent chain of command.

In the first battle formation, Hannibal joined the mercenary troops of the old Margo army, with a strength of about 15,000 men. In front of the battle, eighty war elephants were leading. The second battle array, consisting of the Carthaginian militia, newly recruited infantry, and Greek legions, had a strength of 12,000. The two formations maintain a regular distance between them that can quickly support each other.

The third column was the main elite force of 24,000 men under Hannibal's command, and its core was, of course, 15,000 elite soldiers brought back from the Carthaginian land. Most unusually, Hannibal placed his battle formation in the far rear, separated from the front by up to two hundred meters; On each flank of the infantry array, there were 2,000 elite long shield cavalry.

Hannibal's intention in this formation was very obvious, and in the absence of superior cavalry, he could not use the tactics of outflanking with his superior motorized cavalry; Instead, he must do his best to guard against the outflanking threat of Oscar's cavalry.

In order to avoid this situation, Hannibal greatly deepened the depth of the entire army, making it difficult for Oscar to achieve encirclement. At the same time, in order to maximize the superiority of his infantry, he divided three formations according to the strength of his strength, with the aim of gradually using weak troops to gradually consume the physical strength of the Roman army, and finally put into the elite of the Wen rear, before the enemy's cavalry could form an encirclement, in one fell swoop, to penetrate the Roman army.

Hannibal's elite troops were arrayed two hundred meters away, showing Hannibal's determination to completely sacrifice the two columns of the front line in order to achieve his goal. Judging from the formation, the veteran Hannibal is worthy of being a military genius, and in the case of superior forces, he has not lost his calm judgment of the enemy army at all.

When the formation was complete, Oscar rode up and cheered his army loudly:

"Soldiers! Today you only have to remember the fact that if you win, you will not only win honor for yourself, but also conquer the whole of the Western Mediterranean, and earn an unshakable position for your family!

If the battle is defeated, then blessed are those who died on the battlefield, and people will always remember the warriors who sacrificed their lives for their families; Those who are lucky enough to escape, there will be no place for you in the whole Mediterranean, and we all know the tragic fate of being captives, and I do not want any of you to suffer that fate.

The moment of the decisive battle has come, and the day of shame is today! With all your courage and self-confidence, do not forget the sustenance of the House of Augustus and the hope of the Romans! ”

Hannibal inspected his troops and asked the commanders of the first and second formations to lecture their men, reminding them that if they were defeated, they would lose their western Mediterranean and their freedom; The fate of parents and wives on the North African continent will fall entirely into the hands of the Romans, so there is no way out but to fight to the death.

Returning to his own formation, he looked at his subordinates, who had been born and died together, and said:

"Victorious soldiers, over the years, all the Roman armies that dared to engage you have suffered heavy defeats, and their commanders have been both dead and wounded. Today's battle can be said to be insignificant compared to the battles you have experienced!

Today, the opposing army against you is made up of the sons of your defeated generals, and even their commander Oscar is the son of the defeated generals. In the face of inferior enemy forces, let us seize the opportunity to add new glory to your brilliant achievements, show courage and self-respect, and live up to the title of the victorious army! (To be continued.) )