Thirty-three, the shijie who was shaken (2)

The small town of Nicopolis in central Asia Minor (there is also a larger city of the same name in Greece)

On the battlefield of Nicopolis, the king of Pontus, Pharnaciss, was celebrating his victory, wearing a bright and bright costume, riding in a car inlaid with gold and jade, inspecting the enemy heads on the battlefield over and over again, and from time to time burst out with a burst of smug daxiao.

And the Roman Thirty-sixth Legion, which he defeated, was at Domitius? Calvinus, under his command, retreated to the south in despair.

- Historically, the Kingdom of Pontus, located in northeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and bordered by the Black Sea to the north, was one of the most powerful Hellenistic states in Western Asia before the Roman legions invaded the Eastern Mediterranean.

The state was founded in 302 BC by Mithridates I in the chaos that followed the death of Alexander the Great, and then entered its heyday in the early first century BC under the reign of Mithridati VI, spanning Thrace, the Crimea, the Caucasus, northern Asia Minor, and Lesser Armenia near Lake Van and almost turning the Black Sea into "Lake Pontus".

At this time, the Greek city-states were suffering from the extortion and plunder of the Roman tax collectors, so they had to ask for foreign aid and threw an olive branch to the kingdom of Pontus, which was of the same clan. The ambitious Mithridas VI was overjoyed to see so many leading party helpers, first by attacking Pergamum, seizing all the Roman possessions in Asia Minor, and then following the path of the former Persian army to the west of Greece. Warmly welcomed by the Athenians and Spartans, they passed through the Thermothermal Pass and the Isthmus of Corinth, crushed the local Roman garrison in one fell swoop, and swept all of Greece and Macedonia.

However. The Romans soon launched a counterattack - Sulla, Luculus, Pompey...... Generations of famous Roman generals, who fought against Mithrida VI in the Eastern Theater for twenty-five years, simply regarded the Kingdom of Pontus as the best prey for experience and prestige.

Eventually, in the Third Mithridates War, which ended more than a decade earlier, the Romans completely wiped out the military Liliang of the Pontic Kingdom, annexed all of the Pontic Kingdom's homeland in northern Asia Minor and along the Black Sea coast, and forced the Pontic King Mithridates VI into exile.

In an atmosphere of despair. Mithridates VI's son, Pharnaciss, had to expel his father to protect himself, forcing him to commit suicide. At the same time, he bowed to the Romans, and finally kept the Crimean peninsula on the other side of the Black Sea, so as to survive.

However, Pharnassis did not sink in disappointment. Instead, they continue to run the remaining territories. Constantly expanding into the Ukrainian steppes in the north, while at the same time not forgetting to look for opportunities to return to Asia Minor. The outbreak of the Roman Civil War gave him a godsend - in order to gather enough troops to meet Caesar, Pompey and the Roman republicans who had retreated to Greece had to evacuate almost all the Roman legions and allies stationed in Asia, and expose the whole of rich Asia Minor to Pharnacis's troops like shelled eggs!

Thereupon. Pharnassis immediately mobilized a nationwide army and crossed the Black Sea to return to his native land in Asia Minor. It is as powerful as the Greek coalition in the epic "Iliad" and crossed the sea to Troy. It only took him a short time to recapture Sinop, the old capital of the Pontus Kingdom on the Black Sea coast. Later, Pharnasis continued his father's conquest and continued his invasion of the Anatolian plateau southward, unstoppable along the way.

By this time, Pompey had been defeated in Pharsalus, and the task of preserving Rome's eastern territory fell to Caesar the victor.

So, after the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar himself led the Sixth Legion to pursue Pompey, and asked Antony to bring back nine legions of veterans recruited in Gaul back to Italy to rest and wait, and then cobbled together three legions with Pompey's subordinates who surrendered and recruits recruited in Italy and handed them over to the subordinate general Domitius? Calvinus, who was responsible for taking over Asia Minor and Syria, while fending off Pharnacis's massive southward invasion.

However, the hapless Calvinus had just landed in Asia Minor when he received an urgent letter from Caesar asking for help, saying that he had captured Pompey's tail in Egypt, but was also in a stalemate, and demanded that Calvinus immediately send two legions to Egypt to help him...... As a result, by the time the enemy was discovered, Calvinus had only one thirty-sixth legion left in his hands, and the cavalry was only a pitiful hundred.

So, after hesitating for a while, in order not to lose face, Calvinus actually took the only Roman legion to the north, and recruited some rabble from the Central Powers in Asia Minor, and Zuihou met the Pontus army in the town of Nicopolis in the interior of Asia Minor.

Then, in Nicopolis, Calvinus once again launched a military adventure, and despite the repeated requests for peace talks from King Pharnaciss, he attacked the king of Pharnacis, who was defending the town, with the inferior forces at hand, which led to the outbreak of the Battle of Nicopolis.

At the Battle of Nicopolis, Calvinus's Roman 36th Army performed well, defeating the steppe nomadic cavalry of the Kingdom of Pontus with infantry, and at one point stormed the town of Nicopolis, almost rushing in front of the tent of King Pharnaciss.

However, Nicopolis's allies who had captured the strong Dingla in the country were really vulnerable, and because Calvinus refused to pay them, their morale and fighting spirit were even worse, and soon the queue was disjointed, and the Pontus army seized the opportunity to defeat them one by one, and collapsed in an instant.

Next, the Pontus army, which had recovered from the first wave of blows, even relied on its absolute superiority in forces to encircle Calvinus's 36th Army Corps in turn. Dragged down by these incompetent "pig teammates", no matter how good the Roman army was, they could only fight and retreat, and finally succeeded in tearing through the encirclement arranged by Pharnasis and retreating to the southern coast, but the whole defeat was irretrievable.

All in all, although winning is a bit embarrassing. However, Pontic King Pharnacissus was victorious at the Battle of Nicopolis.

This made him very proud - after all, in an era when the Romans dominated the Mediterranean and the Roman legions were invincible. It was a rare event that a foreign army could defeat a Roman legion. So the king first toured the battlefield, rewarded the soldiers with great gratitude, promised the generals large fiefs, and then feasted and drank with the generals and the beautiful wives and concubines who came with the army.

It's night. King Pharnaciss's lavish tent was brightly lit, and fragrant and expensive balsam was lit in braziers in every corner, and the dignitaries of the kingdom of Pontus gathered here. Each raised a glass of wine to celebrate the great victory of King Bixia of Pharnaciss.

Beautiful music flows from the hands of the musicians, and the playing of harps, flutes, tambourines and clappers combine to create a cheerful melody. Groups of bewitching maids shuttled between the tents like butterflies. Serve a plate of delicious roast beef, roast goose, and roast pigeon. Fresh fruits and vegetables in season, desserts flavored with honey, wine and ale, and a wash basin with flower petals fluttering.

In the center of the tent, a bewitching dancer twisted her waist to the rhythm of the music and danced gracefully. I saw her completely naked, her waist writhing indulgently, and the gold dust sprinkled on it swayed with her plump breasts. It's parching to watch. She wasn't dressed underneath, only a belt around her waist. Then many sparse gold tassels hung down, trying to cover them. It's more enticing.

In the high-pitched and fierce melody, her waist swayed like a flame on a candlestick, her arms swayed like the blue waves of the Aegean Sea, the golden bells on her ankles struck with the rhythm of the crisp sound, and the floating light seemed to be so light that she wanted to fly, and her gestures exuded a seductive charm.

And her eyes are even more charming, foggy as if shrouded in a layer of moisture, the moment she raises her eyes, but it is full of charm, and her charming eyes seem to reveal a mysterious call, so that the men who are swept by the sight can't help but be excited, willing to indulge in it, and can't extricate themselves.

In the face of such a charming dance, even King Pharnaciss, who is a veteran of flowers, can't help but feel a little dry and distracted. He was about to motionfor the dancer to sit in his arms and make a good impression...... However, the message brought by a palace guard in a hurry made King Bixia's thoughts disappear for a while, and the whole person seemed to be beaten with chicken blood, and he was so excited that his whole body was about to glow.

“…… What the? Is Caesar dead? Crushed by a meteor in Egypt?!! King Pharnassis jumped to his feet excitedly, "...... haha！ It's so much fun to die. Well, he died too well! The Roman garrison in the east looks like there is another civil strife again! Wow hahahahahaha! ”

He waved his hand to rebuke the musicians and dancers, and at the same time gave orders to the generals under his tent, "...... That's it for the celebration feast! Let's go back to sleep and refresh ourselves! Get ready for tomorrow's march! We are no longer returning to Sinop (the old capital of the Kingdom of Pontus) to rest! Instead, continue to advance to the west and south until you can wash your feet with the waters of the Aegean Sea! The first target was Pergamum, followed by Tarsus, then Syria and even Greece across the Aegean Sea! Warriors, get ready for a new battle! Let's wash away the shame of the ruin of the past few decades and kill all the Romans! Get these greedy scoundrels out of the eastern shijie! The gods of Greece will surely bless us with continued victories! ”

-- A moment later, the camp of the Pontus army was filled with joy, and the atmosphere of joy was further sublimated, almost reaching the highest point of boiling.

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Northeastern Adriatic Sea, Illylian Province (roughly equivalent to modern Croatia)

In the foggy Adriatic Sea, a fierce naval battle has come to an end, and the sea is filled with broken pieces of wood, swollen corpses, and half-destroyed shipwrecks...... Caesar's treasurer, Koeneficius, leaned on the side of the ship covered in blood, and ordered the sailors to abandon their men who were still in the midst of a bitter battle and quickly set sail and retreated. Several republican warships chased after him, as if they were going to kill him.

-- After the collapse of the Republican Army at the end of the Battle of Pharsalus, the Republican Navy, which had not suffered losses on the battlefield, was also torn apart. One of the detachments was taken to North Africa by Cato the Younger, and part of the battleships surrendered to Caesar. A considerable part of the fleet fled to the northern province of Illyria, intending to take advantage of the mountainous terrain and fortress-lined terrain to continue to fight Caesar.

Caesar apparently could not tolerate this province, which was in the rear of the Italian side. Reduced to a base for the Republican counteroffensive. So he sent his treasurer, Quintus? With two newly recruited legions and a small fleet, Conificius went to wipe out the republican navy. He also asked his subordinate Gabinius to collect Pompey's troops in the Macedonian province and cobbled together several legions to support Konifichius's purging operation.

In the fall, Konificius's army was the first to enter the battlefield of the province of Illyria and fight the republican army. Although neither his navy nor army numbers prevailed. Food supplies were also difficult, but the Republican navy and the provincial defenders were defeated and demoralized. Moreover, the chain of command was disorganized, and the army on Caesar's side, motivated by the victory at the Battle of Pharsalus, was relatively more active and proactive.

Soon, take advantage of the opponent's timidity and confusion. Koeneficius succeeded in capturing a series of forts and towns. He also bought a lot of enemy warships to defect. Zuihou forced the republican fleet to make a desperate bet and, with demoralization weakened, engaged in a decisive naval battle with Caesar's fleet.

However, on the eve of the battle, news of Caesar's death suddenly came from Egypt - the republican army, which claimed to be the guardian of the orthodox government, was immediately demoralized, while the army of Konificius panicked, and soon a large number of deserters and renegades appeared, and in the midst of the ensuing decisive battle at sea. Defeated, Konefichius had no choice but to jump on a clipper. Flee alone back to the shores of Italy.

Next, Gabinius, who had arrived from Macedonia with Pompey's troops, had no time to fight the remnants of the republicans, because of Caesar's death and the lobbying of the republican envoys, which led to a mutiny in a large number of troops - these people had defected from Pompey less than two months ago - and Gabinius, who was also panicked, had to retreat back to Macedonia with the rest of his army, while the veterans of Pompey of the three legions once again defected to the republicans.

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Far Spain, near the city of Corduba

Three Roman armies, also holding the golden eagle mark, confronted each other from afar, and their swords were tense. Thousands of native Spaniards gathered near the battlefield to watch the excitement and discuss how the chaos in the Far Spanish provinces would end.

-- During the Roman Republic, Spain was divided into two provinces: near Spain on the Mediterranean coast and Far Spain on the Atlantic coast. At the beginning of the civil war, Caesar first personally led his army to pacify Pompey's old army in Spain, and then turned around and went to Greece to fight Pompey in a decisive battle. Before leaving, he took Quintus? Cassius? Longidos remained in charge of the province of Far Spain while monitoring the old Pompey army, which had just surrendered.

However, it turned out to be a rather bad decision: Cassius was an extremely greedy villain who had only been in the province of Far Spain for a year before he became angry. Not only did he wantonly oppress and kill those old Pompey troops who had surrendered to Caesar, making them feel that it was better to die on the battlefield; He also wantonly exploited Roman immigrants and Spanish natives in the provinces of Spain, and was busy extorting money everywhere every day, or fabricating charges at will, and taking the rich Spanish to prison...... Even the veterans of the Gallic legion left by Caesar could not bear it because they had been withheld by Cassiusk for a long time, and Zuihou led to a full-scale rebellion in the provinces of Far Spain - first, a group of high-ranking officers tried to assassinate Cassius, and after the assassination failed, tens of thousands of troops simply rebelled directly, and fought with Cassius's descendants under the command of General Maclus.

After a scuffle, the military and political governor of the province of Spain, who would become one of the "Big Three" in the future, rushed to Far Spain with the 35th Army from the province of Spain to try to mediate this inexplicable civil strife. However, Cassius first pretended to accept Lepida's mediation, demanding that all three parties dismantle the fortifications and remove the sentry posts, and then tore up the peace treaty and attacked Maklus' camp...... In a fit of rage, Lepida joined the war, besieging Cassius with the rebels, inflicting heavy damage on his army, and finally forcing him to make peace and sit down at the negotiating table.

Unfortunately, at this very moment of peace, news of Caesar's death finally came from Egypt, which immediately provoked a rebellion in the two Spanish provinces of Pompey, and the armistice negotiations in the city of Corduba broke down, and a new round of Spanish civil war broke out......

In short, with Caesar's sudden and violent death, his already routed enemies were once again resurrected on all sides. And the surrounding countries, which were once overwhelmed by the great martial arts of the Roman legions, also saw the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, and were ready to move again.

However, for the remnants of Caesar, who had suddenly lost their leadership and suffered a blow to the head, their biggest crisis now is in Italy, the heart of the country. And in the face of this crisis, it was Caesar's cavalry commander and lieutenant general, Mark Murphy. Anthony...... (To be continued.) )

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