The best audience for the practice of morality is people's own conscience.

- Marcus Tulius Cicero (Roman statesman, orator, orator, jurist, and philosopher)

In general, Oscar is also ready to let the generals discuss the specific formation of the Samonai Legion; The Guards Cavalry Regiment and the Guards Infantry Regiment knew that they were the confinement of Oscar himself, and no one would criticize these two legions without interest. Sure enough, after all the generals stopped talking; Oscar took out a prepared parchment and said to the people:

"This plan for the formation of the Guards Regiment was drawn up by me and Mary, and you all listen to it; If there is something inappropriate, you don't have to be afraid to bring it up. Our goal is to increase the combat effectiveness of the clan legions and prepare them for the future against Hannibal; So I hope you don't have any burdens and say whatever you want. You can rest assured that I promise I won't settle the score. ”

Oscar's last joking sentence made all the generals laugh, which greatly relieved the awkward atmosphere in the conference room; So, Oscar sorted out his words and said: "The establishment of the Guards Cavalry Regiment and the Guards Infantry Regiment is five thousand people; Among them, the infantry corps will become the corps under my personal command, and it will also be the escort corps that I will go to the battlefield in the future. Therefore, the Guards Infantry Corps will be formed in the form of a mixture of light and heavy infantry and auxiliary units.

The initial strength of the infantry corps were: 2,000 Roman elite troops of the Praetorian Guard, 1,000 Spartan heavy infantry pikemen, 1,000 Cretan archers of ranged soldiers, and 1,000 specially trained guards of the original family and the strongest gladiators. This mixed formation of multiple elite units can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the infantry corps, and it can completely allow the Guards Infantry Corps to act as a decisive force on the battlefield while protecting me.

The formation of the Guards Cavalry Corps was more troublesome, because the family did not have enough cavalry to organize a strong cavalry corps; However, in order to be able to confront Hannibal on the battlefield in the future, it was also necessary to form such a purely cavalry combat group. Moreover, we can also expand the cavalry corps by slowly accumulating; Until the cavalry corps has no cavalry of its own, all the cavalry attached to the corps will be placed under the unified command of Licinius.

Of course. Here I will first announce the preliminary planning of the cavalry corps; As for whether it can be achieved, it can only depend on whether the family's diplomatic strategy can succeed. The initial establishment of the cavalry corps was: an assault group of 2,000 ironclad cavalry, a harassment group of 2,000 Numidian javelin cavalry, and a pursuit group of 1,000 long shield cavalry. Among them, the Numidian javelin cavalry and the long shield cavalry are both obtained from Numidia by the future family. If we can't get it, then let's take a long-term view. ”

Oscar put a lot of thought into the formation of the Guards Infantry Regiment and the Guards Cavalry Regiment; These two legions are also well organized, and if they are successfully formed, they will become one of the most elite legions of the Augustan family with their strong combat effectiveness. However, the perfect formation of these two legions is not really that easy to achieve.

The formation of the Guards Infantry Corps was relatively easy to achieve. But the way so many elite units are put together is also unmatched by other legions; So it is understandable to have strong combat effectiveness. And the Guards Cavalry Regiment, that's just a concept entirely; Its core combat power is the number of 2,000 ironclad cavalry, the question is where did the Augustus family get so many ironclad cavalry?

At present, apart from the Seleucid Empire and Parthia in the East, as well as Armenia, there are no other countries with ironclad cavalry at all; It's not that other countries don't want to have it, it's that everyone doesn't have the conditions! The powerful ironclad cavalry is certainly strong in combat, but in addition to the countless gold coins that need to be consumed; You also need high-quality war horses and the skills to forge a full set of armor. There are many countries with gold coins, but not many countries with high-quality war horses, and even fewer countries with the technology to forge a full set of armor equipment; If you have all three, there will be only three in the world.

Therefore, the feeling of the generals about the Guards Cavalry Corps is that its existence is entirely symbolic; It is simply impossible to really form the ideal cavalry corps. Of course, the Guards Cavalry Corps can also form a strong elite cavalry corps by obtaining Numidian cavalry; But. Such a cavalry legion was nothing more than an ordinary cavalry legion without the cooperation of the core ironclad cavalry, and it did not have the strength to defeat Hannibal's cavalry.

You know, Carthage's cavalry strength is the best in the world; The combined attack of its round shield cavalry, long shield cavalry, and Holy Order cavalry, coupled with the presence of war elephants. Even if they encountered the ironclad cavalry clusters of the Seleucid Empire, the victory or defeat between the two sides was between five and five; What's more, their opponent is only the cavalry, which is basically a waste of Rome. Don't think that Carthaginian war elephants are just elephants, and that using elephants as a class of troops is just the first step for the Carthaginians; True war elephants are war behemoths that have been rigorously trained.

Moreover, the Carthaginians also trained some unusually large armored war elephants; The armored war elephants, which are said to be invincible in combat power, are more than twice the size of ordinary war elephants, and every time they appear on the battlefield, they will be a disaster and a nightmare for the enemy. Thankfully, the armored elephant could not be transported outside of Carthage due to its size; So the Romans were glad that they had not yet tasted the taste of being attacked by armored war elephants.

In short, the Guards Cavalry Legion, which was formed solely on the basis of Numidian cavalry, was an ordinary cavalry legion; Definitely not the so-called elite legion. It was no match for the cavalry units under Hannibal. This was the result, and that was on the assumption that Hannibal would not be able to get support from the rest of Carthage's cavalry; Once Hannibal had acquired enough Shield Cavalry and Templar cavalry, the existence of the Guards Cavalry Corps would be a complete tragedy.

Based on this thinking, the generals did not pay much attention to the Guards Cavalry Corps; It can even be described as no interest. Quite the opposite. The Guards Infantry Corps will soon form combat effectiveness; and became the most elite legion of the House of Augustus in one fell swoop. Until the other legions are on the battlefield, the Guards Infantry Corps will occupy this first place for a long time; Even if other legions can go to the battlefield and gain military exploits, they may not necessarily surpass the infantry legions.

Who made the Guards Infantry Corps too strong? 2,000 Roman elite troops are basically the core combat power of an ordinary legion, plus 1,000 famous Cretan archers; These 3,000 troops alone were enough to hold on to a reorganized Roman legion. However, this legion also had the Spartan heavy infantry, known as the strongest arm in the Mediterranean, and other 1,000 individual fighters. Why didn't the generals question whether the Guards Infantry Corps could be formed?

This is because of the five thousand troops needed by the infantry corps, three thousand can now be selected; The remaining key Spartan hoplites and Cretan archers were not a problem either. That's not to say. Everyone knew that the Augustus family had a secret military base on Crete; It's just that the generals of the family have seen the Spartan hoplites and Cretan archers that suddenly appeared under Oscar's command last time, so naturally they don't doubt that Oscar can get another batch.

Undoubtedly. Such a combination is enough to make any general salivate; However, what puzzled the generals was that Oscar actually asked a surrendered female pirate to be the commander of the infantry legion! It's unimaginable! Originally, without knowing the specific establishment of the Guards Infantry Corps, the generals still held an indifferent attitude; Maybe Oscar wants to pick up girls? You can't bother Oscar to please the beauty.

But now that everyone knows about the formation of the Guards Infantry Corps, one can imagine how powerful this corps is; It can well be imagined. The generals could no longer allow Oscar to appoint Mary as the commander of the legion at this time. Not to mention Mary's daughter and her identity, at least she was just a female pirate leader who was proficient in naval warfare; Who can guarantee that she can command this elite legion.

If Oscar had only given this powerful legion to Mary because of his love for beauty, and Mary had abandoned this legion because she did not understand the affairs of the legion; That would be a disaster for the House of Augustus! However, now that Oscar has been appointed, the generals can't just say these things directly; If you say it. Isn't that just pointing at Oscar's nose and scolding Oscar for not doing his job properly and being unscrupulous?

The atmosphere in the conference room became a little oppressive after Oscar finished talking about the formation of the two legions, and even the three people who were not affiliated with the Augustus family felt that the atmosphere was wrong; Moreover, Quintus and the others also attended the family meeting held by Oscar yesterday, so they naturally knew about Oscar's appointment of the generals, and also understood the thoughts of the generals present at this time. However, this makes it difficult for the three outsiders to interject!

In the end, it was Quintus who stood up and admonished Oscar: "Oscar, your Guards Legion is very well organized; In particular, the formation of the infantry corps could form a great combat effectiveness in a short period of time and become the strongest legion of the Augustus family and even the combined Sardinian legion. But. Mary was, after all, an admiral of the navy; Wouldn't it be a good fit to have her as the commander of the infantry corps? Or would you think about it again? “

No wonder the atmosphere in the conference room was so strange just now? I see! As soon as Quintus's roundabout words came out, Oscar understood what he meant; It must be that everyone thinks that they are not doing their jobs, and in order to please the beauty, they actually arbitrarily gave the command of the family's vital legion to Mary. Thinking of this, Oscar smiled self-deprecatingly and said to the silent crowd: "I said why was the atmosphere so embarrassing just now? You all think that I appointed Mary as the commander of the infantry regiment because of my own favoritism! I don't blame you for this, I blame me for forgetting to explain it to you; Mary isn't a pirate chieftain, her true identity is amazing. I hope that you will not tell it even after you know it, that Mary's identity is at best known to those in the room; Mary, can I say? “

With that, Oscar asked Mary for the words of inquiry. On such an occasion, Mary had to nod helplessly; So, Oscar said with admiration: "Mary's former name was Joan of Arc, and she was Spanish. As soon as these words were spoken, the pupils of Lucis and Quintus immediately shrank suddenly; And the other generals have not even reacted. It's been a long time. Licinius suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "Joan of Arc in Spain? Is it the Spanish goddess of war Joan of Arc who turned the tide with her daughter's strength, rescued the entire Spanish kingdom from the Hannibal family's soldiers, and defeated Hannibal's father? Wasn't she burned to death by the Carthaginian army? “

Licinius's words woke up all the generals who had not yet reacted, and everyone looked at Mary with shocked faces after hearing Licinius's words; Mary smiled and said, "It's a long story, and I don't want to explain it anymore; But I am the real Joan of Arc, and I am not dead but alive and well. "Now that Oscar has identified Mary's identity. Naturally, there can be no fake; Everyone no longer questioned Oscar's decision at this time, and serving as a legion commander with Joan of Arc's talent is simply condescending! (To be continued.) )

PS: The results in the recent period are very unsatisfactory, which may be related to the relatively boring plot development of "Empire"; But Chasing the Wind is still working hard to write, because on the fan list, Chasing the Wind can still see that there are still book friends who have been supporting Chasing the Wind. Your support is the biggest motivation for chasing the wind, and here chasing the wind will also give you a specific number; Probably starting around April 9th, "Empire" will enter a big ** period, and one war after another will continue until the end of this volume. I hope that book lovers can continue to support Chasing the Wind and continue to support "Empire"; Thank you for the new month!