Chapter 434 Mark Anthony

Chapter 434 Mark Antony

Maximus, dressed in military uniform, strode into the hall, followed closely by three ministers of war.

Maximus' sharp eyes swept across the crowd, pausing briefly in front of several Germanic leaders such as Iccolobio. They flickered their eyes and did not dare to touch them.

Maximus said straight to the point: "I just got the news that Rome has sent troops and is coming here!"

These words immediately broke the silence in the hall.

"The Roman army is finally here! We can finally have a good fight with them!"

"Yes, the soldiers can't wait any longer! Your Majesty, how many of them are here? I wonder if they can give us a good fight!"

"Your Majesty, who is the commander of this Roman army? Is it the one named Caesar? Many of my soldiers want to take revenge on him!"

…

Several legion commanders scrambled to speak, each of them showing a strong desire to fight.

Maximus nodded secretly and looked at the Chief of Staff.

Pecot coughed twice and said loudly: "Our sentry ship in the Adriatic Sea sent back news that not long ago, Caesar, the Roman governor of Gaul, and Pompey had a decisive battle in Greece, and Pompey suffered a disastrous defeat. , most of the troops under his command surrendered to Caesar. Although he escaped, he may not be able to fight against Caesar anymore.

This also frees up Caesar to send his troops against us. But he obviously didn't take us seriously. He didn't lead the army himself. Instead, he sent his general Antony to fight us. Moreover, the troops sent were not his main force. Most of them surrendered from Pompey. The Roman soldiers coming over——"

"This Caesar looks down upon us the best!" Tinibazus said with a sneer: "We can just take advantage of his carelessness and eat this part of his army first, thereby weakening the strength of the Romans to compete with us."

"That's right, Rome doesn't pay attention to us and doesn't go all out, which just allows us to defeat them without paying heavy casualties!" Staggs agreed.

Several other legion commanders also echoed their words.

"We should not underestimate Antony, the commander of this Roman army." Maximus reminded in a deep voice: "According to the intelligence collected, this Roman general named Antony is not a simple man. Just ten years ago he served as The lieutenant of the Roman army expedition to Syria. It is said that he often took the lead in the battle and performed very bravely. Later, this Roman army helped the Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy regain his kingdom, and Antony played an important role in this process.

It was precisely because of Antony's performance that Caesar entrusted him with important tasks after he defected to Caesar. And he did not live up to Caesar's expectations of him. When Caesar was in the most difficult time, he led the reinforcements to risk crossing the sea, joined forces with Caesar, and helped Caesar through the difficulties. He also performed well in the subsequent series of battles, so Caesar regarded him as Be your most powerful arm.

It is said that in this decisive battle with Pompey, Caesar asked Antony to lead the left wing alone, which played a big role in the final victory. This shows that Antony was a Roman general who was good at fighting.

In addition, this Antony is also very good at winning over soldiers. Although he is a Roman noble, he can dine and play with ordinary soldiers. He often rewards the soldiers generously and is more popular among Roman soldiers...

Therefore, although the troops coming this time are not the elite troops of Rome, their number exceeds 30,000, and under the leadership of Marco Antony, the combat effectiveness of this army will not be too bad. Everyone must not take it lightly! ——”

Seeing that everyone's expressions gradually became serious, Maximus continued: "Of course, this Marco Antony is not without shortcomings. Judging from his past performance, this man is brave and bold in combat, but he is not a person who likes to think deeply. . He likes to do things based on his feelings, so several of his military operations in the past were too risky. If the enemy was not too weak, he would have died long ago...

Based on this weakness of Mark Antony, the staff proposed a plan to lure the enemy after repeated discussions. Pequot. Please tell everyone in detail. "

"Yes, Your Majesty." Pecot walked to the center of the hall, looked at the bright-eyed legion commanders, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, since we have completely controlled the surrounding area before occupying Aquileia, Rome People definitely don’t know that the city has fallen. We can use the city of Aquileia as a bait to lure the Roman army to rush to rescue.

The plan we made is this..."

…………………………………………………………………………

Mark Antony led his army across the Adriatic Sea by ship and landed at Brindisi. While heading north, he was also trumpeting the news that "Caesar had defeated Pompey."

Previously, the news of "Caesar's great victory over Pompey in the battle" had been sent back to Italy, but after all, the battlefield was in Greece and the people had not seen it with their own eyes. Also, affected by Pompey's past glorious achievements, most people only believed it with suspicion.

Antony's appearance confirmed all this, for the legions and soldiers who had originally belonged to Pompey were now under his command.

As a result, the Italian towns that had previously joined Caesar's side were completely relieved, while those towns that tended to favor the senators headed by Pompey and were not very cooperative with Caesar were forced by the situation to open their doors to welcome the passing Antony's army.

Antony was not a generous man. He would list the city's past hostile acts and threaten the governor to make sufficient compensation to show his sincerity in repentance, otherwise he would regard him as Pompey's accomplice and give him the most severe punishment.

Antony's vicious attitude and the tens of thousands of wolf-like soldiers under his command, as well as the news that Pompey had suffered a disastrous defeat and was powerless to turn the tide, eventually made these towns surrender and offer enough money to bribe Caesar's right-hand man.

Antony did not keep all the money for himself. He generously distributed most of the money to the officers and soldiers, and every time he camped, he would ask the neighboring towns to provide enough food and wine.

He held a banquet in the camp and drank and had fun with the soldiers.

These Roman soldiers had never enjoyed such benefits when they were under Pompey's command. Soon they were overwhelmed by the charm of the young Antony and were willing to be commanded and fight for him.

While winning over the soldiers, Antony did not forget to satisfy his own desires. Sometimes he would openly go to the neighboring towns to have affairs with noble ladies, and even let his men bring prostitutes to his tent in a carriage.

The soldiers felt strange about this at first, and made fun of him with these romantic affairs at the banquet in the camp. He was not angry, but accepted it calmly, but he just didn't change. Soon everyone got used to it, and felt that this commander was flesh and blood, and could make them closer.

Antony's spring breeze did not last long. As the army got closer and closer to the northern provinces, he also received more news from the northern provinces.

Reading the error-free version! 6=9+Book_Bar published this novel for the first time.

The Nix army that invaded the northern Italian province not only besieged Aquileia, but also broke through and looted several surrounding towns, causing panic in the entire province...

In addition, the newly conquered Gaul region set off a major rebellion, which not only caused the garrisoned legion to perish, but also almost wiped out the Roman army that rushed to reinforce...

Antony did not expect that the situation in the northern region, which was still peaceful and tranquil a year ago, would become so bad now, and if no action was taken quickly, the entire north would be completely corrupted, and it would threaten the safety of Italy and Rome.

Therefore, Antony did not dare to delay any longer and accelerated the march. He arrived in Rimini at the end of September, where he met many northern Italian people who fled south, many of whom were from around Padua.

They cried to Anthony: the barbarians brutally took away their property (including slaves), injured and humiliated their families, and drove them out of their homes...

And these barbarians also declared with confidence: The reason they invaded the northern Italian province was because the Governor of Gaul Caesar was aggressive and slaughtered millions of Gauls in ten years! Such bad behavior made countless tribes north of the Alps indignant. This time, the Kingdom of Nix joined many tribes to invade the Roman territory with only one purpose - to avenge their dead Gaul compatriots! If Rome does not arrest and execute the culprit Caesar to relieve the anger of the Kingdom of Nix and the tribal warriors, then the attack on Rome will never stop!

Anthony was furious, not only because these ignorant barbarians were so arrogant, but also because they dared to offend the great and wise Caesar!

Originally, because he had entered the northern Italian province, for the sake of safety, Antony planned to stay in Rimini for a few days and wait for Trebonius to come and join him before taking action. Now he decided to break camp immediately and continue to march north.

Although Antony was angry, he did not lose his mind. He sent cavalry to investigate the enemy situation to prevent the enemy from blocking him on the north bank of the lower Po River and delaying his march.

The news he got surprised him a little: there was no trace of the enemy on the north bank of the lower Po River!

But at the same time, Antony was relieved. He quickly led his army across the Po River and arrived at Hostilia, a major transportation town on the north bank.

Soon, Trebonius, who was notified by the messenger, also arrived with his army.

This Roman noble who followed Caesar to Gaul earlier than Antony was one of the most trusted legion commanders in Caesar's later period as governor. Especially after the outbreak of the civil war, he performed outstandingly during the period when Pompey's army pacified Spain. Therefore, he was given the important task of defending the three northern provinces and guarding the Gaul region by Caesar.

Antony even learned through certain channels that Caesar was planning to appoint Trebonius as a high-ranking Roman legal officer after the civil war to reward his loyalty and merit.