Chapter 43: The Southward Journey and the Pursuit
Outside Pompeii, a procession was slowly moving along the avenue, with more than a dozen four-horse caravans in the middle, surrounded by heavily armed guards in front and behind, attracting the attention of many passers-by on the avenue.
These guards were hoplites, wearing iron helmets, gold armor, fish-scale iron armor skirts, leather armor greaves with iron embedded in their calves, and a pair of leather sandals under their feet. Most of them carried Roman short swords and oval iron shields, or several heavy javelins on their backs, and a few burly soldiers carried military tower shields in their hands.
Except for the lack of feathers and ornamentation on the iron helmets, the team looked like a complete Roman regular army. In normal times, they would be intercepted by the army in Pompeii if they were less than five miles out of the city, but now Pompeii is in chaos, and no one cares about this suspicious noble escort.
Of the more than a dozen carriages, except for three carriages with some female dependents, the rest of the carriages were piled with food, medicine, cloth, and some tools, and one carriage was the property that Claudia had brought out of the mansion. However, the aristocratic lady apparently did not care about the money, and gave it all to the rebels to replenish material equipment.
The crucified Lucius was found in Pompeii the next afternoon, and his body was now in the Doge's Palace, where he could not be buried until the arrival of the Roman envoys, but was left to rot and stink, and was now unrecognizable and miserable.
"BOSS, it's been a few days since Fiblum Day, if Lucius sent a messenger to Rome City on the morning of Fiblum Day, then the envoys and reinforcements of Rome City should be almost there!" Dinah sat in the carriage and yawned boredly.
"The envoy of the city of Rome should indeed be arriving, but not necessarily the backup army! If the Roman Senate had learned of a gladiator revolt in Pompeii, and Lucius had suppressed half of them, and only a small half of the gladiators had fled, then it was likely that they would have sent only a messenger, and the army would have attacked Vesuvius directly. Xu Mo smiled and said.
"That's right, Vesuvius has gathered a large number of slaves around Capua, and if even the slaves of Pompeii City are added, it will indeed pose a great danger!" Serna's eyes lit up next to her, "BOSS, then we are a little fish, the Romans can't take care of it for the time being!" ”
"Among the information I exchanged with Sappis, Sappis gave me a lot of plot information about this Spartan world, and the history of this mirror world is very different from our real world......" Xu Mo recalled for a moment, and then shared the information he got with several other team members.
In the current world of Sparta, the two armies of Hannibal and Leonidas are attacking the Roman Republic from east to west. Some of the most elite Roman legions, led by Caesar, resisted Hannibal between the Iberian Peninsula and Gaul, while others were led by Pompey against Leonidas in Macedonia and Thrace in the east.
In addition to this, there was also a Roman general, Luculus, who resisted the Pontus kingdom in Mithridium, and the Roman Republic was currently overstretched. The Spartacus revolt had been going on for several months, but the city of Rome had not reacted at all, partly because the revolt was not yet large enough for the Romans to take seriously, and partly because it needed some time to prepare for the new legions.
The gladiator revolt in Pompeii can be described as a flashpoint, and the Roman Senate had to face the threat of a wave of domestic uprisings. However, because there have always been reincarnators stirring up trouble in this world, the scale of Spartacus's uprising is not as large as Xu Mo and others originally imagined. Among them, reincarnations such as Shelpis play a key role.
The plot forces that Xerpis took refuge in were the Romans, and since he succeeded in turning the world of Sparta into his home world, he must have dealt a major blow to the other plot forces. At least Governor Lucius, who was supported by him, almost extinguished the gladiator revolt in Pompeii.
Without Lucius, once the four thousand gladiators of Pompeii joined the Spartacus rebel army of Vesuvius. It is not difficult to imagine that the rebel army of Spartacus would begin to sweep through the entire Apennine Peninsula and inflict heavy losses on the Roman Republic, just like Xu Mo's world.
Xu Mo asked Herington to go to Mount Vesuvius with two purposes, the first purpose was to hope that he could bring Spartacus's gang to Pompeii and directly capture Pompeii.
If this is not achieved, the news of the Pompeii uprising can also be brought to Spartacus. In this case, with the shrewdness of Spartacus, he should be able to deduce that the city of Rome was likely to send an army to encircle the gladiator rebels. In this case, the rebel army led by Spartacus could no longer stay in the dead place of Vesuvius, and they had to go down the mountain, either south, or north.
No matter what Spartacus chooses, the suppressive army sent by the city of Rome will focus on the largest rebel army, and Xu Mo's small rebel army will not be in danger for the time being, and his second purpose will be achieved.
However, Xu Mo's plan was disrupted by Herington's "accidental disappearance", and now he not only does not know whether Spartacus has received the news from Herington, but also does not know the movements of the Spartacus rebel army and the Roman army.
"BOSS, why do you want to go south, isn't it good to go north to meet the other rebel armies?" While the four were talking, Jeanne approached them from behind.
"There are advantages to both the north and the south, and if we cross the sea in the south, with the size of our team of more than a hundred people, it will not attract the attention of the Roman army, and it will be easier to smuggle into Greece. Although he gave up his competitive mission in the Spartacus rebel army, he also went to Greece to join Leonidas' army of Sparta. Xu Mo explained with a smile.
"But ......" Jeanne opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't know how to refute it.
"By the way, Jeanne, I have a task for you, we are in the valley at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, and there are more than twenty seriously wounded people recuperating from their injuries. Now they should be able to move out into the field, you go and bring them over to join the main army, and we'll be waiting for you in Skafati, not far from Pompeii! Xu Mo raised his hand and pointed to the east side of Pompeii and said.
"Okay, BOSS, I see!" Jeanne smiled sweetly and brushed her hair.
Xu Mo stood silent for a moment, watching Jeanne, who had left alone, disappear below the horizon before turning around and rushing back to the main army.
"Serna, do you think Jeanne will ......," Max muttered softly to Serna, beside him.
"What, you like her? I didn't expect you to like this rugged chick! Serna gave Max a cold look.
"How so, hehe......" The Germanic man shrunk his neck, bent his back, and smiled flatteringly.
"Hmph, the boss has already given her a chance, now it's up to her to choose!" Serna said as she looked in the direction Jeanne had gone, her eyes twinkling.
……
"Head, the gladiator team led by that reincarnation has already left the city, what are we going to do?" Xiu asked anxiously.
"Wait! The reincarnation of Scipio brought me news that Scipio was only half a day's journey from Pompeii. Shepis said with a blank face.
"Scipio, as a Roman envoy and military tribune, could command the reserve forces of Pompeii. There were twelve centians in Pompeii, and there were also two centurians in the reserve who had returned from injury, and with the hundreds, Scipio's side, the strength reached fifteen centurions. Hee-hee, enough to kill the rebel army led by that wise man ten times. Yi Yun said with a grin.
(Scipio here is Scipio the Great, the father who defeated Scipio Hannibal!) )
"In addition to Lucius, Scipio is another Roman nobleman I have assisted, and he trusts me more than Lucius, not to mention leading an overwhelming force to suppress a small number of gladiator rebels, how could he be willing to let go of this opportunity!" Shepis said with a smile.
"That wise man didn't go north, if he went north to meet Spartacus, we couldn't do anything about him, could there be some conspiracy in it?" Although Xiu couldn't wait to bite Xu Mo, he still raised his concerns at the right time.
"Hmph, he now knows that Black Widow is in the Spartacus Rebel Army, Black Widow has been operating in the Spartacus Rebel Army for so long, and the composition of the Spartacus Rebel Army is so complex, it is natural for her to control hundreds of people, and it is strange that the wise man will throw himself into the net!" Yi Yun retorted disapprecatingly.
"And what about the Joseph he offered? It should be much easier to catch that person than it is to catch him! Xiu asked suspiciously.
"That Joseph is probably his opponent, whether he is a wise man or not is not said for the time being, his whereabouts are still unknown, and it will take a lot of time to find him. What's more, there are already the best, so why bother pursuing defective products! Xue Pis looked at Xiu speechlessly, "Xiu, after you joined the team, you are more and more reluctant to use your brain, am I like the kind of fool who is led by the nose?" ”
"Haha, hehe, head, I didn't mean that, I'm just a little worried!" He flattened his mouth, and suddenly realized that he no longer had the Olympus Divine Grass in his mouth, and immediately scratched his scalp in distress.
"Don't worry, resourcefulness also has limitations, no matter how strong the resourcefulness is, it can be cracked head-on, as long as you have overwhelming strength!" Shepis smiled confidently.
"Head, if you catch that wise man this time, if he still refuses to give in, let me stay alone with him for a few hours!" The little fox looked at the strange light and said excitedly.
"......" Xiu looked at this cute little witch wearing a professional suit wordlessly, and images of leather whips, candles and other inappropriate children appeared in his mind.
"No, we still have to borrow his wisdom, what if you play badly!" Shepis sank his face and solemnly admonished Yiyun.
"Cut!" Yi Yun pushed the gold wire glasses and turned her head away unhappily.