It is always a beautiful thing to love someone for the sake of virtue. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

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

As Oscar announced all the specific casualty figures to the generals, the generals really understood the cost of the casualties of the Augustan army; To be honest, the price was too heavy, and the five Augustus legions were all crippled.

However, the fruits of such sacrifices are also significant; Not to mention that the Augustan family completely ended Hannibal's military myth in this battle, it was this undefended Sicily that was enough to make up for all the losses of the Augustan family.

As long as the Augustan family can take the whole of Sicily, then all the sea islands in the entire western Mediterranean will be owned by the Augustan family; Coupled with the powerful naval fleet of the Augustus family, the position of the hegemon of the Western Mediterranean is truly determined.

In addition to this strategic advantage of the sea, the sheer size and population of Sicily would be the basis for the true rise of the House of Augustus; The House of Augustus, before the capture of Sicily, was not at all a promising family.

No matter how many gold coins the Augustians had, and no matter how many armies the Augustians raised, they could not change the disadvantage of the Augustians in their strategic position; The existence of Sicily is the sword on the head of the Augustan family.

Once the forces occupying Sicily had assembled a powerful naval fleet, Sardinia of the House of Augustus would face a serious military threat; Only by taking Sicily could the House of Augustus ensure that their rule was not threatened by direct military threats.

More importantly, the pattern of Sardinia is extremely limited, and it is simply not enough to support the rise of a powerful power; The reason why the Augustan family was able to develop rapidly and expand its army in Sardinia was due to the accumulation of the Augustan family for more than 200 years and the support of Rome itself.

Even so, the House of Augustus could not have maintained such a large military power on the basis of Sardinia alone; Otherwise, it will be a reckless use of military force and drinking to quench thirst, and sooner or later the Augustan family will go bankrupt due to huge military spending.

Although the Augustans had previously taken the Balearic Islands and the provinces of Betica, their role was extremely limited; The Balearic Islands, in particular, were a drag on the Augustan family's finances with their scattered islands.

Sicily, however, is a different story entirely; Sicily is the largest island in the entire Mediterranean, and it is home to three provinces! Coupled with easy access to shipping and thriving cities, Sicily is definitely the foundation of the kingship.

After the Augustus family occupied Sicily, they were able to control the maritime trade rights of the entire western Mediterranean in their own hands; The benefits in this regard alone would have been enough to feed the entire army of the House of Augustus.

With rich capital, abundant population, safe territory, and a strong army, after owning these four elements, did the Augustan family still worry that they could not dominate the Mediterranean? When that day comes, it will only be a matter of time before the Augustan family is the only one to poop.

Strike while the iron is hot, Oscar is not someone who likes to procrastinate; Late will change, and it is absolutely impossible for Oscar to waste the great opportunity that the Augustan family has gained in exchange for sacrificing 20,000 soldiers.

So, after announcing the exact casualty figures, Oscar began to give new orders to the generals in the military tents:

"Generals, although we have won a complete victory in this decisive battle, it is too early to celebrate; We must take all of Sicily as soon as possible to ensure that our sacrifices are not wasted and that our victory is stronger!

General Quintus, as soon as the battlefield has been cleared, you return to Messina with all the officers and men of the Second and Seventh Legions and the Guards Infantry Corps; In addition, I hand over to you all the wounded of the other legions, and you will lead them back to Messina.

When you return to Messina, your first task is to arrange for a doctor to treat our wounded; We have to make sure that most of the wounded eventually return to the corps. Even if they are too badly wounded to fight for us Augustus, we must heal them as much as we can; After all, they are the heroes of our House Augustus!

Luquis, your task is to lead the nearly 4,000 men of the Samonai legion in good fighting order to Lilibal in Lower Sicilia tomorrow; We must take Lower Sicilia before the Kingdom of Carthage reacts.

General Theophanes, you are the last blood member of the Hannibal family, and you will also be the leader of the Hannibal family under our Augustan family; This time, you will go to Lower Sicilia with General Luquis. I believe that with your special status, you should be able to help General Lucques take Lower Sicilia more smoothly.

General Licinius, the nearly three thousand cavalry of the Guards Cavalry Corps that you continue to lead, plus the five hundred cavalry under my command, make up three thousand five hundred cavalry; Your mission is to follow me into the ancient city of Syra.

Of course, we were accompanied to the city-state of Syrac, with fifteen hundred family guards under the command of Nusis, and two thousand five hundred light infantry; Now the ancient city of Syracuse is only 3,000 Spartan heavy infantry, and our 7,500 elites are enough to take the ancient city of Syrac. ”

With that said, Oscar was ready to put an end to the order; However, Oscar suddenly remembered that he had not yet arranged the remnants of Hannibal's army. So, after a slight pause, Oscar added:

"By the way, General Mahabar, you will return to Messina with the men of Hannibal's army and General Quintus; During this time, you can also send the cavalry of Hannibal's army to collect the soldiers of Hannibal's army who have been scattered on the battlefield.

All the soldiers who were subordinate to Hannibal before the war will be the soldiers of your Hannibal army in the future; However, the soldiers of the Greek legion are not counted, and our Augustus family does not need cowardly Greek motley troops to fill up the numbers! ”

Oscar's order to Mahabal did not surprise the generals, but his evaluation of the Greek legion made all the generals present laugh; Indeed, in the two decisive battles between Hannibal and the Roman army, the Greek legions performed too poorly.

Whether it is the old and respected Roman general Scipio the Elder, or the famous god of war Hannibal, they were all killed by the Greek legions when they used the Greek legions to fight. It is no exaggeration to say that whichever side of the Greek legion belongs to the war, that side will lose the decisive battle!

Hannibal, the god of war, did not believe in this evil, but reality taught him a good lesson; The miscellaneous members of the Greek legion, even after temporary training and under the command of a famous general like Mahabal, still performed in disarray on the battlefield.

Although these miscellaneous Greek troops did not represent the combat effectiveness of the Greek army at all, at least they still made the soldiers of the House of Augustus and the remnants of Hannibal have a deep contempt for them; Who made their representation so bad!

After the end of these orders, Oscar also took the opportunity to end today's military meeting; After all, now that the war has just ended, the soldiers of the various legions have suffered heavy casualties, and there are still huge battlefields to be cleaned, the affairs of the generals are still very heavy, and Oscar can't always delay their time.

After all the generals had left, Oscar stood up and stretched comfortably, and smiled at Mary beside him and said:

"Mary, we have won this war at last! Hannibal can no longer be a stumbling block to the rise of our House of Augustus; The vast North African continent and the rich Iberian Peninsula will soon be the new battlefield for our House Augustus! ”

In the eyes of the lover, Oscar's laziness is full of masculinity and handsomeness in Mary's eyes; She slowly walked behind Oscar, gently pinched Oscar's shoulders with both hands, made Oscar completely relaxed, and then said softly:

"Oscar, you made it; After this war, the rise of the House of Augustus in the Western Mediterranean was no longer stopped. I believe that both the North African continent and the Iberian Peninsula will eventually become part of the House of Augustus.

And you, too, will eventually ascend to the position you want; This is an era in which the stars will shine brightly, and the nations will compete for hegemony, and no one knows who will become the only creator of history in the end. But I believe that you will definitely be the brightest star in the galaxy of history! ”

Mary's words can be regarded as speaking to the bottom of Oscar's heart; As he has been in this world for a longer and longer time, Oscar has long lost the concept of the protagonist mode and immortal Xiaoqiang in his heart.

In Oscar's heart, he has slowly been assimilated by this era; He is a part of this era of blood and passion, not an ordinary member of the peaceful world that he once was.

Being able to become one of the figures who influence the direction of the times in such a big era is a gift from God for Oscar, and it is also the biggest challenge for himself; Perhaps, Oscar will not be the final winner. Even if there is a victory, it is not necessarily the only winner; However, as long as he has experienced all this, Oscar believes that this will be an eternal existence!

Of course, the gentleness and tenderness of the two in the military tent are unknown to the soldiers outside the military tent; However, after a day of fighting, you can also enjoy the company of beauties. For the exhausted Oscar, this may be the greatest enjoyment of coming to this world!

After a day of fierce fighting, tonight will be a night of peace of mind for all the soldiers; Whether it is the victorious Augustan soldiers or the surrendered remnants of Hannibal, there is no longer any need to worry about the outcome of the war and the uncertainty of their own life and death, the huge military camp is so quiet that even the sound of torches burning is clear. (To be continued.) )