After touring the main battlefields around the Egyptian royal palace, Caesar returned to a noble mansion that he had temporarily requisitioned as his headquarters, took a piece of coarse dough from the guard, smeared it with a little salt and olive oil, and ate slowly with a large glass of wine.

-- Because after the destruction of the convoy, Caesar's supplies on departure sank to the bottom of the sea, or were burned by Pompey's ships on the beaches of Pharos, so he and his army were now only able to eat whatever they could find in the neighborhoods of Alexandria.

Fortunately, in these years, the world was raging and chaotic, and both rich and poor people generally had the habit of storing food just in case.

After searching several wealthy mansions abandoned by their owners, as well as a few shops along the street that had not yet been burned down by the mob, the Sixth Legion finally managed to scrape together enough food to last for a dozen days, but the type of food was really not to be particular about - a high-ranking commander like Caesar could nibble on coarse flour baked with wheat flour and drink wine from the mansion according to recipes suited to the taste of the Romans. A considerable number of the soldiers who had drawn the bad lot had to frown and fill their stomachs with dried dates that had never been seen in Italy, and wet their throats with Egyptian beer, which the Romans despised and disparaged as "bitter foam".

Moreover, with the jishu conditions at the time, baking bread and bread was time-consuming and a waste of fuel. Both of these things are lacking for the current Sixth Army. So, in more cases, the guys of the Sixth Legion in order to be lazy. He would only find a quiet place to set up a cauldron, and he would smash up the furniture, wall panels, and reed mats he had collected from the houses to make a fire, and throw all the barley, wheat, flour, pickles, bacon, dried dates, and beans he could find. Boiled into a large pot of unappetizing stew, the soldiers were uncomfortable to eat.

What's more, from a long time ago, the Romans were accustomed to eating pasta, olive oil, green vegetables and fruits.

On the voyage south from Rhodes in pursuit of Pompey, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion nibbled on bacon as hard as stone and salted fish as tough as wood for more than ten days in a cramped cabin full of lice and bed bugs. I was already tired of the taste, and I was looking forward to a fresh vegetable salad after I landed. Indulge in sweet figs, grapes, pomegranates and melons.

However, in Alexandria at this time, although many wealthy citizens had the habit of storing grain in cellars in case of war and famine, and perhaps some wine, pickles and bacon, no one would have a pile of fresh fruits and vegetables. Now. The city has become a slaughterhouse of flesh and blood. There will be no farmers in the suburbs who risk their lives to continue trafficking fruits and vegetables into the city...... In the short time between battles, Caesar's men rummaged through the blocks where they had entrenched, and finally found a pitiful few fresh onions, turnips, cabbages, and coriander, which they found in the small vegetable garden of a noble mansion, and they ate them at once in a meal, and then never again.

(The diet of the early Romans was quite healthy, in keeping with modern predominantly vegetarian fashion, but it got worse and worse later on.) ）

-- Street fighting with no end in sight. Unappetizing food, strange and dangerous city. The cut off back road, the long-overdue military salary, the accumulated irritability and tiredness...... All this made Caesar's subordinates gradually feel remorseful, and at the same time they had some resentment towards Caesar, the supreme commander who had rashly thrown the whole army into this big quagmire and cut off his own way of retreat. No one in the generals, nor in the soldiers, knew that Caesar would have made such a risky decision at that time. Driven by worry and insecurity, everyone tried to guess Caesar's intentions, and to consider what was to come—after all, their helpless mere two or three thousand men in this rioted and bloody metropolis of 700,000 people were like a lonely boat in the middle of a vast ocean, which could capsize at any moment. The uneasy mood of the soldiers of the Sixth Legion was not even appeased by their centurion and group leader. Because they have the same state of mind as the soldiers.

However, the calm expression and tireless actions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Lord Caesar, restored the soldiers' self-confidence to some extent. In fact, every time the soldiers saw Caesar, they could feel his vitality and great self-confidence, and their hearts gradually settled down, and their courage was gradually restored - because in the midst of all the dangers they had experienced before, Caesar had given them enough hope and confidence with practical actions, and made them firmly believe that if they sincerely believed in Caesar's wisdom and judgment, then everything would eventually lead to a good result.

Unfortunately, in fact, Caesar's judgments were not always infallible. For example, on that afternoon, at Caesar's behest, Captain Fabius, who had been sent to the camp of Queen Cleopatra in the suburbs, brought back disappointing bad news empty-handed.

- The recalcitrant queen of Egypt, who refused to provide any supplies to the great Caesar dictator and threatened to destroy his legions completely!

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“…… It is truly a misfortune that Caesar, the dictator of Rome, has never been subjected to such unwarranted malice and untimely neglect when he goes anywhere in this shijie! I have served as your envoy many times, but I have never seen such an arrogant and impertinent fellow! ”

Caesar's captain Fabius, the Roman officer who had been ordered to return from the queen's camp, gulped down wine from the underground cellar and cursed indignantly, "...... Caesar, you ought to let your servants take a stick from their 'fascist' guard of honor and put this barbarian queen in order, so that she can see deeply why the authority of Rome is not to be offended! ”

Fabius pointed to the "fascist" sticks on Caesar's shoulders and suggested this in a huff.

-- The original meaning of the word fascist is "bundle of sticks." Before Mussolini coined a new meaning in the 20th century, it originally referred to the symbol of power held by ancient Roman officials when they went on patrol - in the shape of a bundle of rods with an axe stuck in the middle. Symbolizes power and violence.

At that time, according to the laws of the Roman Republic, each Roman consul had 12 servants, who carried a bundle of beating clubs on their shoulders and an axe stuck in the middle, symbolizing the power of the supreme governor of the state.

This kind of flogging rod tied into a bundle with an axe is called "fascism", and it is a kind of torture instrument used by the Romans to execute prisoners.

But. They had to take the axe off in the city of Rome, because the citizens of Rome theoretically had the right to appeal to the citizens' assembly, and even the consuls and dictators could not be killed at will. This is only theoretical, but it is difficult to say how it will be implemented in practice.

If someone committed a serious crime, the Roman consul would pronounce the sentence in public: "...... The death penalty for this sinner was imposed on 'fascists'. "Hu Cong immediately untied the" fascist from the shoulder. Take out a stick and beat the sinner severely. Until he was beaten to the ground, he was pulled to his knees, pulled out the axe from the "fascist" and cut off his head on the spot -- this is the origin of the "fascist".

Gaius? Julius? Caesar, the more noble Roman dictator, had to double the number of his followers to 24. And Fabius, who was sent to Queen Cleopatra's army before, was the commander of this team of "fascists".

There is a saying in China that the prime minister's concierge is the seventh official. The same was true in the ancient Roman Republic.

As Caesar's servant captain. Among his cronies, Fabius may have been fairly well-behaved in the city of Rome. But once he arrived in the overseas provinces, he was like a rat running into the grain bar, and immediately showed a greedy face, all kinds of extortion, cunning and robbery. Caesar was well aware of Fabius's temperament, and even deliberately connived at this, so that he could use him to do some "dirty work" that was inconvenient for him to do - such as this time when he went outside the city to extort fresh food and money from the queen of Egypt, ready to be used to reward his soldiers who were tired from the battle.

-- In public, Caesar still had to maintain his image of being "just and benevolent," and it was inconvenient to be too unscrupulous.

As a calm and rational military and political master, Caesar's dictator knew very well how angry Queen Cleopatra, the master of the land, would be after he and Pompey turned Alexandria into a sea of fire.

In such a situation, no matter what kind words Caesar, one of the culprits, said to her, or made generous promises, it was impossible to quench the anger that burned in the heart of the queen of Egypt. Not to mention, Caesar also wanted Queen Cleopatra to fulfill her obligations as the monarch of a Roman vassal state by sending large sums of money and fresh food to her army...... These things are very much needed by the Sixth Army today.

-- First they destroyed other people's homes without saying a word, and then they asked the victims to come up with all kinds of things to "comfort" themselves...... In the absence of sufficient military strength to rely on, it is almost impossible to accomplish such a coercive negotiation task.

And Caesar's countermeasure is also very simple - since the soft one can't work, then come to the hard one, anyway, in this world, only the fist is the truth!

So he sent the rough and mean captain Fabius, intending to use bluff and harsh intimidation to temporarily frighten the little girl, who should have little experience and guts, and force her to provide logistics for herself—after all, Caesar's battle-hardened and repeated defeat of powerful enemies was not boasted of by hired troubadours. And the dozen or so Roman legions scattered behind him in Italy, Greece and Asia Minor were likewise not muddy. As long as he is a sensible monarch, he will not dare to be his enemy easily.

However, as it turned out, Caesar seemed to have miscalculated this time.

- Far from being frightened by Fabius's harsh words, the Queen of Egypt exploded like a cat with its tail trampled on, and exploded completely.

Therefore, while regretting his wrong judgment, and listening to Fabius's invish and complaints, Caesar did not feel much irritated by Queen Cleopatra, but said to himself: It seems that time is really unforgiving; In the face of this little girl who did not know whether to live or die, I could not even let out the slightest anger, I only felt unreal and tired like I had never felt before, watching the queen of Egypt treat me like an idiot and a madman......

“…… Belch...... Don't worry too much about it. Fabius, this ignorant little girl, was just dizzy. When I'm done cleaning up Pompey, my old rival, I'll naturally make this little girl pay enough for her rude offense! ”

After some rambling to himself. Caesar finally came to his senses, and then reached out and patted the captain's shoulder, who was a little upset that Caesar had neglected, and comforted him, "...... When the time comes, it's up to you to execute the 'fascists' yourself - after eliminating the ragtag mercenaries around her, strip the stupid queen naked, and throw her down on the street to beat her with a baton! ”

“…… Hehe, I prefer to spank her little ass in bed! Caesar. Fabius smiled lewdly. Gulping down the remnants of wine from the cup, he took a piece of coarse dough from the table and chewed it, "...... Although she is a little shorter. But the figure is still quite plump......"

In the course of the conversation, Caesar's servant brought a small plate of vegetable stew, which was barely made from dandelion leaves and other wild herbs that could be found in the garden, and tasted rather bitter. But for the Roman army curled up in a corner of the city. It's already a rare delicacy.

Fabius soaked the dry, hard dough in the hot soup to soften it a little, and continued to describe to Caesar what he had seen and heard during his visit to the camp of Queen Cleopatra, especially his assessment of the strength of the queen's army.

- Although Caesar's Sixth Legion was immediately engulfed in endless chaotic street fighting after landing on the beach, Caesar was able to gather some information about the Egyptian civil war through the torture of his captives, especially the fact that Queen Cleopatra had recently been blessed by the "gods/demons". He relied on the "meteorite summoning spell" to burn the city of Pelusim to ashes, and drove the "Iron Monster" to devour thousands of General Achilles' elite soldiers in the port of Nokratis. And there are horrific rumors that many people have been sacrificed to have their hearts dug out and used to sacrifice "gods/demons......

The rational and calm Lord Caesar naturally did not believe these absurd and exaggerated claims, but this did not prevent him from instructing Fabius to pay attention to the strength of the queen's army when he went on an envoy, so that he could have an accurate basis for reference in the future, whether it was war or peace--this kind of reconnaissance by lending his name was originally basic military common sense--and Fabius did bring back a large amount of information "not to live up to expectations".

“…… The Egyptian queen's army numbered about five or six thousand, half of whom were Greek mercenaries she had recruited from the provinces of Syria, some of whom may have served in the auxiliary legions of the provinces, and their equipment seemed to be decent. The remaining half were native Egyptians, dressed in rags or shirtless, with a mess of weapons, many armed only with scythes and clubs, and the rudimentary of slings......"

Fabius said with some vagueness as he devoured a simple meal, "...... I didn't see anything special in her barracks (the balloons were put away, the pickups were hidden in the tents, and the chengguan had crossed the wormhole to return to the modern Shijie to prepare arms for the Queen), and I didn't see the Grim Reaper with a wolf's head...... It can be seen that the strange talk we heard before was simply made up. ”

“…… That's what I think, Fabius...... After all, the statement that the wolf-headed god of death descended to earth is really too suspenseful! My family is still a hereditary high priest, and I haven't seen the faces of the gods with my own eyes. Caesar touched his chin and smiled, and then suddenly his face changed and he frowned, "...... Wait, Fabius, do you hear me? What strange sounds seem to be out there? ”

-- In the midst of the flames, a buzzing noise suddenly came from a distance, as if amplified by a hundredfold sound of bees flapping their wings.

“…… Indeed, it sounds weird...... It's not like a bird, it's not like a bat......" Fabius also put down his bread and glass, and looked out the window strangely, staring thoughtfully into the dark night sky...... Or...... Let's go out and see, Caesar? ”

Then, standing in the garden outside the mansion, with the help of the dim moonlight of the night, Caesar struggled to keep his eyes open, and seemed to faintly see a faint black shadow passing through the night sky above him, with an indescribable sound.

As his vision was blurred at night, he could not see anything in the distance, and he was about to tilt his neck to look more closely, when there was a sudden spasm on his face, and Caesar immediately bent down and covered his abdomen with one hand and his cheek with the other...... Then, his face turned purple and blue, his limbs twitched violently, and he fell to the ground with his back bent, his arms and thighs twitching unnaturally......

“…… Worst! Come on! Caesar's epilepsy is again! Are there any doctors here? ”

Seeing this, Fabius, who was standing beside him, was immediately shocked and screamed for people to come and help. And Falaus, Albirus, Loufus, who are resting and eating nearby? Niger and the other officers of the Sixth Legion, after hearing the call, also rushed from their respective quarters in a disorderly manner, and found Caesar lying on the floor with his hands and feet limp, his breathing slow, his snort heavy, and his face even showing a very terrible blue-gray.

As a result, Caesar's cronies and attendants tossed up and down again to calm Caesar, who had an old (epileptic) seizure, again. The "humming" noise heard before, as well as the mysterious black shadow faintly seen in the air, were naturally all forgotten by everyone......

In this way, due to carelessness and bad luck, Caesar and his Sixth Legion lost Zuihou a chance to give early warning...... (To be continued.) )