Under the scorching sun, a long and winding army marched out of Alexandria, ready to meet the enemy in the east.

For the first time since his accession to the throne, Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII went on a personal expedition against his "older wife", Cleopatra VII.

The family conflict between the royal husband and wife has been resolved until it needs to be resolved by war, which is not the first time in history, nor is it the first time in Zuihou.

Since it was the Egyptian pharaoh who went on the expedition, it was bound to be solemn, and it was the "first battle" of Ptolemy XIII, although the goal of the battle was to "solve family conflicts", the young pharaoh still put on a full show.

In the middle of this procession was a long lavishly decorated palanquin, each carried by six or eight men of similar appearance and stature, carrying a variety of court dignitaries, for whom almost the entire court's courtiers poured out at the suggestion of the king's teacher, Theodotus, in case anyone remained in the rear to cause trouble for Queen Cleopatra.

The palanquin in which Ptolemy XIII rode was gilded with gold, inlaid with precious stones in a mysterious and peculiar Egyptian-style pattern, and the curtain was decorated with fluffy purple feathers. Beneath the palanquin was carried by eight dark-skinned, sturdy slaves, dressed in glittering golden robes and wearing broad collars of blue enamel and red and topaz around their necks, walking barefoot through the streets of Alexandria, with a high-spirited face. Around the palanquin, a team of richly dressed and magnificent knights rode on snow-white horses with purple saddles. Appears to be swaggering. Even the lowest-ranking Egyptian infantry wore expensive white linen robes.

In general, this is a very luxurious army. So much so that it doesn't look like it can fight, but more like a guard of honor that shows off its grandeur.

At the time of the expedition, the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy XIII was carried by his slaves from the palace to the square by his arms, and then carefully placed in a golden palanquin. He held the King's Scepter in his right hand and the Whip of Orisses in his left, and wore openwork gold sandals on his feet, with large rings on every finger and toe. A wide gemstone collar was around his neck, as if it were a large walking purse.

At this time, Pharaoh was still a teenager who had just reached puberty, with fair skin and good looks. But his face doesn't seem to be very good, probably because of the excessive color of wine. His speech before the expedition was just as dull – the pharaoh of the Ptolemaic family did not seem to have inherited the lineage of a Greek orator, and spoke in a stiff tone that seemed to be rote memorization. And from beginning to end. His eyes were fixed on his teacher, Theodotus.

However, under the sword threat of the royal guards, the onlookers and the soldiers who were ready to set off still let out a burst of cheers in response to the occasion.

In short, under the scorching Egyptian sun, these sparkling jeweled palanquins, surrounded by attendants with snow-white ostrich feather umbrellas, marched mightily towards the battlefield in the east. Everywhere I went. It can attract countless onlookers, and also makes Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, who rarely travels, very proud...... But because the speed of movement of the sedan chair is really very slow. The previous riots in the city of Alexandria also wasted a lot of time. So, long before Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII arrived on the battlefield, the battle began.

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On the front line of the Nile Delta, General Achilles sat cross-legged under a palm tree, holding a bunch of grapes in his hand, while lying on the reed mat laid for him by his subordinates to cool off, while squinting at the wheat fields that spread to the end of the field of vision, while thinking about the coming war.

“…… I really didn't expect it! In just a few days, the entire Delta region has fallen, and the priests of Memphis are expected to raise an army soon, plus the Romans who may appear on the coast of Egypt at any time...... There is not much time left for our army to calmly defeat the Queen. ”

As a battle-hardened general, Achilles knew the importance of speed. So, after hearing the sad news of the fall of the city of Pelusim and the opening of the gateway to the Nile Delta, he did not wait for the pampered Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII to join him, but hastily gathered 8,000 soldiers and sailed from Alexandria the next day in an attempt to keep the queen out of the heart of the Nile Delta.

However, when he arrived at the central port of Nokratis, he was shocked to learn that the entire Delta area in the eastern part of the delta, centered on the city of Pelusim, had fallen in just a few days, and the advance of the queen's army was still advancing towards Alexandria!

Under such drastic political changes, there is also an undercurrent surging in Egypt, and a storm is coming.

Along the way through the queen's army, the garrison troops and local nobles either surrendered or remained neutral, and no one was willing to fight to the death for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, but many minor nobles and priests organized militias to defect to the queen, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to fight for a fortune.

- The biggest difference between civil war and foreign war is that any army in a civil war can usually easily obtain resources from the new occupation area and recruit more troops, while the lower nobles and common people will not be too disgusted by this, and will even take the initiative to defect in order to improve.

To this day, Cleopatra VII is still the rightful queen of Egypt, and her supporters still have a lot of shili at the local level, as long as she can break into the heart of Egypt and show her strength, then there is no one to eat the pot pulp and the crowd accordingly.

Specifically, when Queen Cleopatra was stranded on the border, Ptolemy XIII was the monarch of all of Egypt and could easily mobilize the resources of all of Egypt against his sister. But once Queen Cleopatra successfully entered the heart of the Nile Delta, raised the royal banner and recruited troops, then the whole of Egypt was about to rebel and flame, and even the capital Alexandria would become unstable.

Fortunately, Queen Cleopatra's policy of "indigenization". broke the absolute monopoly of political power between Macedonians and Greeks, which led to the fact that she lost the support of most of the high nobility of Macedonian and Greek descent. And her hardcore supporters, the natives of Egypt who have been suppressed for hundreds of years. Although numerous, but without vital military power - in order to ensure the stability of the regime, the Ptolemaic dynasty had always strictly restricted the armed liliang of the native Egyptians, using Greeks, Macedonians, Catalans, and even Jews as soldiers as much as possible - so in the bloody and violent struggle for power, her seemingly large support liliang did not play a role, forcing Queen Cleopatra to flee in a hurry.

But on the flip side, when Queen Cleopatra returned to Egypt with an army of menacing menace. Ptolemy XIII, who opposed ethnic reconciliation, could only count on the Macedonians and Greeks to die for themselves. It would be nice for ordinary Egyptians to be able to stand by and watch from the sidelines.

Presently. The queen has taken possession of the Delta region, centered on the city of Perusium, which is called Delta because it resembles the shape of the Greek letter "△". The eastern tributaries of the Nile are constantly branching off in this region, constantly becoming thinner tributaries. zuihou。 These large and small currents are launched along a sector facing north. It pours into the Mediterranean Sea through seven interconnected estuaries.

Thanks to years of dredging by the Greeks during the Ptolemaic Dynasty, the land is now dotted with thousands of artificial canals, and the crops grown along the banks are enough to feed millions of people, making it a major grain producing area for the Ptolemaic Empire. The papyrus produced here was a major source of wealth for the Ptolemaic family - the stalks of papyrus could be made into high-quality paper, which was the most important writing material in the Mediterranean civilization at that time. The Ptolemaic family had a complete monopoly on the production and trade of paper throughout Egypt, and every penny of their money was put into Pharaoh's pocket.

In the future era of Arab rule, the region will have a new and even louder name. Damietta.

During the Zuihou Crusade, numerous European crusaders fought for the land. And on the beaches of Egypt dried blood.

The loss of this land was almost as devastating to the Ptolemaic dynasty as China was to lose the entire Jiangnan of China.

On the other hand. After owning this land, if the queen was given enough time and the support of the local Egyptian priesthood, it would be easy to recruit tens of thousands of Egyptian native soldiers, which could not help but make General Achilles feel even more anxious.

To make matters worse, even the Macedonians and Greeks, who had vested interests, now seem reluctant to die for Ptolemy XIII.

- The Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, who ruled Egypt in the long march from Egypt to Afghanistan, was afraid that the construction of Hellenistic cities would cause Greek city citizens to demand the convening of citizens' assemblies, autonomy, independence and other problems in the future, which would not be conducive to the autocratic rule of the royal family.

Therefore, in the whole of Egypt, there are only three Greek cities, such as Noclatis and Alexandria, and the vast majority of Greeks and Macedonians also live here. Once left these three cities, the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty was like a rootless one. However, the idea of democracy was deeply ingrained in the minds of the Greeks, making it difficult for them to accept the rule of an absolute monarch, so they were always in constant conflict with the royal family and difficult to maintain peace.

This awkward situation may not be easy to understand, but it must be used as an analogy, which is equivalent to the Manchu Dynasty suppressing the Han people in the world with a small number of Manchus. However, these Manchus, who were supposed to be hardcore supporters, were all one-sidedly inclined to a democratic republic (of course, only they themselves had the right to vote, and others were not counted as citizens), and they were always thinking about overthrowing the emperor and establishing a republic......

Therefore, the Ptolemaic dynasty was basically a crumbling hanging dynasty, the ruled nation was full of humiliation and resentment, but the ruling nation loved the democratic republic, was very disgusted with the monarchy, and from time to time had to petition for autonomy or riot, so that the successive pharaohs were always in a dilemma...... It's hard to believe that they have been able to hold on for so many years.

To put it bluntly, since the expulsion of Queen Cleopatra, the famine problem in Egypt has not abated in the slightest, and the street riots have intensified, like the "Arab Spring" of the 21st century. Hearing the news of Queen Cleopatra's comeback, the Greeks' first reaction was not to pledge allegiance to King Qin. Instead, he took the opportunity to make trouble in the streets and put forward all kinds of outrageous political demands, which further added chaos to the devastated Ptolemaic dynasty.

For example, after landing in the port of Nokratis. General Achilles found the whole city full of riots and mobs, and every street was filled with screaming and looting mobs, the wharves and merchant ships were in flames, and the town hall and granaries had been ransacked......

With 8,000 troops around him and a small remnant of the local garrison, he was able to easily crush the fragile resistance of the mob and restore order to the city, as time was of the essence. General Achilles ordered his men to kill the rioters. Let the soldiers draw their blood-glittering swords and deal with the unarmed and club-wielding rioters! Wherever the sword went, more than 800 creatures rushed to the Yellow Spring—but the hostile eyes of the citizens and the undercurrents surging beneath the calm waters. General Achilles had to give up his plan to rest in the city for a few days, and instead let the army drive out of the city, preparing to destroy the enemy through field battles, and then turn back to deal with the mess in the city.

According to his calculations. Judging by the previous intelligence. The queen has only 2,000 Syrian mercenaries under her command, and even if she recruits all the way after entering the heart of Egypt, it would be good to be able to double the number in a few days.

And he has 8,000 people under his command, so he is sure to win. As for the exaggerated rumors of "arrows of the gods", "summoning meteorites", and "gods sending down to earth", General Achilles naturally did not believe it at all.

Then, with the rumbling sound that shook the surface and the smoke and dust rolling up at the end of the horizon, General Achilles finally saw the enemy...... At the same time, the giant cat-headed balloons were suspended in the air. He was stunned on the spot.

“…… This bunch of things in the sky...... What the hell is it? Could it be that there really be a god helping Cleopatra? ”

After a pause, he gasped for a breath of hot air mixed with dust. I couldn't help but mutter.

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While General Achilles was looking at his opponents in the distance, the visitors from different planes also used their binoculars to observe the Egyptian army standing in front of them.

It was the hottest time of the day, and even the strongest soldier could be exhausted and out of breath after a few kilometers in the scorching sun, and his horses would be injured at full speed. Therefore, the army of Queen Cleopatra, after discovering the enemy's traces, did not immediately enter the battlefield, but turned around and looked for a shady village to camp temporarily, facing the enemy several kilometers away.

After expelling the villagers and entering the village according to the customs of the era, the rest of the soldiers sat down exhausted and fell to the ground exhausted, gulping down the clean water they had just fetched, and rinsing their dusty hair. The cooks appropriated the villagers' stoves to cook porridge and bake bread so that the soldiers could have a full meal and recover their strength as soon as possible for the next fierce battle.

As for Queen Cleopatra, who had been blowing cold wind in the car all the way, she climbed to the top of the highest house in the village with great energy, raised her long monoculars, and looked at the enemy army on the other side of the dry wilderness, muttering to herself from time to time.

“…… This coat of arms and flags...... It seems to be General Achilles? Hmph, among those traitors, it seems that he is the only one who can still fight! ”

“…… Queen Bixia, I don't care who the enemy on the other side is. Anyway, it's pretty much the same whoever it is, all I care about is what you want to do? ”

Wang Qiu put on a pair of sunglasses, followed behind the queen, and said weakly, there were a large number of low-eyed maids and guards behind him. Because of the fatigue of driving bumps along the way, Wang Qiu seemed a little sluggish at this time, as if all his energy had been drained, "...... Seeing that war is about to start, why aren't you in a hurry at all? At the very least, discuss the tactical arrangements with the mercenary leader! ”

“…… Huh? Isn't that your business? When the enemy is defeated, I'll just let the mercenaries go up and clean up the battlefield. ”

Listening to Queen Cleopatra's straightforward and brazen answer, Wang Qiu couldn't help but be embarrassed again.

“…… What is pushed to us? You're really a waste of a cute lady's undisciplined style! But ......"

He touched his chin and said playfully. “…… Cleopatra, recorded in the history books, was a cold-blooded politician with a bewitching appearance, ambition, ruthlessness, and insidiousness. Not only did he kill his two husbands successively, but he also seduced Antony and Julius Caesar, and almost ruined the Roman Empire, which made the Romans hate her and called her the 'Enchantress on the Nile'...... But now that you appear in front of us, you are clearly just a cute and arrogant lady! Well, the boobs are still relatively good! It's not as barren as the classic lady image in the anime......"

“…… You, you're tsundere, your whole family is tsundere! Hearing Wang Qiu actually comment on herself like this, the Egyptian queen Bixia immediately blew up her hair again," ...... I have painstakingly thrown away all shame, and left my pure virgin body to you to play with, touching and touching, hugging and hugging, licking and licking, and even taking out my own first night as a prize...... Aren't you willing to take responsibility to the end? ”

Then, she looked directly at Wang Qiu with a pair of watery starry eyes, like a wild cat and wild dog thrown under the bridge in the cold wind.

- Queen Cleopatra launches the magic skill "Malicious Selling Cute"! The results are outstanding!

Wang Qiu was decisively defeated, and raised his hands to indicate surrender, "...... Okay, okay, you can sit in the back with your mercenaries and enjoy the 'miracles', I'll go prepare the rocket launchers and car bombs, but you'll have to at least fight with that zombie witch clone...... Any other commands? ”

“…… Of course, there was no order, but there was new news - Pompey is here! The queen said calmly.

“…… Pompey? Wang Qiu was a little surprised when he heard this, "...... He's already in Egypt now? ”

“…… Yes, according to reports from the rear of the courier hurrying from the rear, Pompey's battleship appeared near Pelusim last night. However, Pompey himself did not disembark, but sent someone ashore to buy some fresh water, vegetables and fruits......" Queen Cleopatra rubbed her forehead in distress and sighed unconcernedly, "...... Now Pompey is a lost dog, so there is nothing to worry about. But here's the problem...... Pompey is coming, will Caesar be far away? (To be continued.) )