When leading the army into battle, the general should not show any frustrated expression, because the soldier will generally estimate his prospects by the expression of his general

- Emperor Maurice of the Eastern Romans

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"A joint request for a strike!?" Lucuras was shocked and angry, "Is this the request of the entire legion?" ”

"Yes, not only the Seventh Legion, but also the Eleventh Legion, everyone refused to continue the battle and asked for a winter camp." Appis said.

"But they don't know the importance of the city of Ataxseta! This castle was built by Hannibal, the old enemy of Rome, and its existence is a threat to our nation, and we must conquer it in order to truly conquer Armenia. Don't the soldiers even understand the importance of this? ”

Appis shook his head and said in a regretful tone: "Most of the soldiers don't even care who Hannibal is, they care more about what a war will bring to them. Forgive me, Your Excellency, as a military tribune I have to deal with you, for the soldiers of the Legion are also citizens of Rome. ”

The first time Calabis saw it, Luculas sat down a little deflated, this formidable commander, no enemy could defeat him, but he didn't expect Zuihou or Rome to defeat him himself.

"Maybe I can put my beak at it." The charming Claudius spoke suddenly, "There is a compromise, that is, each legion will take a part and go back to the winter camp; and dismissed the mercenaries of Thrace and Gaeraxia, and rewarded those who were willing to continue the march with a good reward. ”

"No, no, Appis, assemble the soldiers in the square of the camp first, and I will speak to the brethren." Lucuras cupped his forehead and said in distress.

"Calabis, just peeping at the door of here, listening to what the tuna said to the soldiers?" When the Roman general Zodu was out, Adiana, who remained in the tent, commanded, and she sat on a pile of cushions and watched the three mysterious and strange messengers of her brothers, all of whom stood motionless, unconcerned about the outside world.

"Master, don't you listen to it yourself? It would be clearer that way. Calabis grunted and crept over to the crack in the tent curtain, and from behind him came Adiana's nagging "Shut up, amphora, how could someone of my stature do such a thing." ”

Naisa, who was sitting across from him, spoke, meaningfully, "Adiana, you should know what purpose Marcha took you over? ”

"Of course I do." Adiana lowered her chestnut curls and whispered.

"I will bless you. Unexpectedly, the fate of you and your mother is exactly the same. Naisapi didn't smile.

At this time, Luculas was outside the tent, in front of the soldiers of the two legions, and began to speak loudly, his voice sonorous and his posture powerful, and he talked about honor, strategic significance, and so on. But the soldiers below were maliciously noisy, and did not give the commander a chance to continue, and even the Eleventh Legion, which Lucuras loved the most, many of the soldiers also pointed at Sang, and in short, they were not willing to march with Luculas anymore, and they even threatened to shout that either the winter camp would be held, or they would jointly propose to the town council to revoke Lucuras's command of the army, and if Luculas dared to take coercive measures, they would also take extraordinary measures.

What the extraordinary measures were, the soldiers did not say, but the fools also knew what they meant, the naked and bloody "mutiny" - the Roman commander who died because of this, there were more than one or two.

Luculas trembled with anger on the podium in the square, but he kept his composure and continued to talk bitterly, and he promised to return from the expedition, and that each soldier would be rewarded with between 1,000 and 1,500 drachmas, and that after his triumph, he would have the Senate pass a motion that would allow the soldiers to receive a good land and pension for their lives.

But the soldiers laughed loudly, and they threw their empty money bags into the square, shouting: "Tuna, look at our money bags, this is the harvest of a few years of hard work with you." ”

"The Eighth Regiment of Weishenme has been staying in Silesia, and we are suffering on the front line?"

"We haven't had a winter camp in three years."

"I heard that Pompey had suppressed Marius's rebels in Italy and Spain, and how idle the soldiers were, and how much they had made a fortune on the booty, while our camp had not even a contractor or a slave trader."

"Let Pompey take over this army, we've all had enough of you!"

The voices of protest and insults rose higher and higher, and Claudie took her brother-in-law's arm and exhorted loudly: "Perhaps the suggestion I have just made is the most appropriate, and your Excellency should stop having unrealistic illusions. ”

As a result of this, Luculas accepted Claudius's suggestion, and the Eleventh and Seventh Legions, a total of one hundred and ten hundreds, drew forty of them, and returned to the winter camp of Bithynia, and then drew twenty hundreds from the Eighth Legion in Silesia, and came to change shifts. Those who were willing to continue fighting in Armenia were to receive six hundred drachmas each, and a subsidy of seven hundred drachmas upon return.

In order to appease the anger of the soldiers, a lottery ceremony was specially arranged in the camp square to be held.

Calabis saw that Highburda was also involved in the draw, and was the first to go up, and in the moment of the draw, he winked at Claudius on the stage.

Suddenly, Calabis understood everything, and he remembered what Safano had whispered to him before the battle when Hebrida beat and imprisoned him and Adiana, and then Claudius Weishenme was going to Hebrida's camp for this moment.

Because Claudius is not only the captain of the cavalry, but also very familiar with the military logistics personnel, he must have done something in it, and it is conceivable that the soldiers and centurions of the forty centurions, in order to obtain the qualification of the winter camp, will secretly stuff Claudius with how many Sesces!

Sure enough, the results were announced, and Heblida was among the forty centurians, and he was finally qualified to go to the winter camp, standing in the middle of the crowd, even more than the winners of the games.

However, then Hebrida was summoned by Luculas to enter the manager's tent alone, and he could see that the low-ranking centurion was full of spring breeze, and walked in with his head held high, and then he glanced around: they were all old acquaintances: Naissa and Adiana were almost raped by him, Potty was raped by him freely, and the Jews and Calabis were beaten by him, and they were all old acquaintances!

"Say, how much money did you stuff my tasteless wife and brother?" After coming in, this was Lucuras's first sentence.

"Five thousand Sethses." The low-ranking centurion was not shy about it, he was not afraid of Lucuras going back on his word, and the habit of the Romans, once the result was determined by public ceremonies, could not be questioned.

"Is your honor as a soldier worth all this money!" Lucuras looked directly at Hybrida and asked.

"Your Excellency, you wear a toga of eight thousand séstrickins, and you wear the armor of thirty thousand sésdes, the ivory hilt of your sword is worth ten thousand certhés, and the turquoise ring on your finger is worth fifty thousand certhés—and then you will give me the equivalence of honor and money?" "There are my slaves in Bithynia, many of whom have contracted typhoid fever, and if I go back from the winter camp and sell them, it may not be worth the bribes given to your wife and brother. ”

The muscles in Lucuras' face jumped twice, and he stroked the ball on the hilt of his sword in embarrassment, not knowing how to respond to Highbrida's words, and Zuihou could only say, "I heard that in this battle, your wing suffered heavy casualties. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, the Triple Wing is safe and sound, and there are only seventy men left."

"Well, then, you go back to Bithynia with Utteris and Appis, and take the triad with you, on the one hand, to rest in the winter camp, and on the other hand, to guard the messenger team of the governor of the Bosphorus, including the queen sister of the king of Pontus. As a reward, you receive a double pay for the duration of this mission. ”

"Personally, I am not happy to accept this task."

"Personally, I'm not happy to accept it." Adiana looked at Hebrida in disgust and said.