Fu Qin starts with a plan

Chapter 598 Those Who Don't Know Are Fearless!
"Snapped!"

Marcus was stunned, then extremely angry, and slammed the wine glass in his hand.

After being humiliated by Daqin and the Senate, he felt betrayed by his closest subordinates again.

What about "there is no indication that Daqin intends to use troops against the West"?

That's it? !
Daqin has no intention, they have action!

Their war horses and warships are all fucking right at the door of the house, okay!

Marcus didn't know that he had wronged his subordinates.

Pity the envoy he sent to Daqin, even though he was under Marcus' command, he was notoriously eloquent.

But suddenly Marcus threw him to Daqin.

He was able to learn simple communication terms in just two months, and he knew that if he wanted to understand the state affairs of Daqin, he needed to read newspapers.

These points are enough to show how moving the messenger's efforts are.

Do you expect him to learn more in this little time?

The emissary knew that he needed to read newspapers, but he did not expect to encounter the flood of newspapers in Daqin.

Who knows if what he read is the bucket newspaper produced by a famous toilet manufacturer?

Being able to get really useful information on it, that's hell!
Marcus, who was cheated by a big oolong, wanted to cry at this moment.

In recent years, the war between Rome and Carthage has become increasingly anxious.

Both countries have mobilized all their active forces and put them into the frontal battlefield.

As a result, Marcus, the majestic governor of southern Rome, the military and political chief of a region, has a pitifully weak military force.

The army of the Roman Republic implemented a legion system.

At present, there are about thirty legions in the whole of Rome.

The standard number of people in each legion ranges from 6000 to 20, so Rome's regular army actually has less than [-] people.

However, each legion also has a considerable number of auxiliary troops.

Because of the needs of the war with Carthage, the number of auxiliary troops equipped with each legion will generally not be less than 3000, even equal to that of the regular legion.

Calculated in this way, the total number of troops in the Roman Republic should be more than 40.

This is of course incomparable to Daqin's million-strong army.

However, don't forget that the area of ​​Rome is far less than one-third of the territory of Great Qin.

If the military power in the areas actually controlled by the Roman Republic is added up, the number of troops easily exceeds 50.

In fact, in the Second Punic War with Carthage, Rome invested a total of 75 troops.

Moreover, don't think that the combat effectiveness of the Roman army is weak.

Not to mention the regular army, even the auxiliary army, the combat effectiveness is very fierce.

The Spartans, known for their fierceness in history, can only appear as an auxiliary army of the Roman regular legion.

The most important thing is that Rome's mobilization ability is extremely strong, as if it will never lose.

The Roman army lost a total of [-] at the Battles of Trebia and Lake Trasimeno.

In the ensuing Battle of Taranto, another ten thousand were lost.

In the Battle of Cannae that followed, [-] people were slaughtered by Hannibal at one time.

In the subsequent battle of Arausio, the Cimbri killed another 12 Roman troops.

Back and forth, in less than ten years, Rome lost more than 26 troops in these battles alone!

However, on the frontal battlefield with Carthage, the Roman army continued to flow.

But in ten years, there is no such way to cut leeks.

The main reason is that today's Roman system has indeed found a relatively good balance between common farmers and nobles.

The common interests of the peasants, the common people and the nobles are quite large, so the ability to explode soldiers is not weak.

But no matter how many Roman troops there were, they were numerous.

Carthage, who was fighting against them, was one of the European duo, and their explosive power was equally impressive.

No matter how many troops were allocated to Marcus, they were pitifully small.

Marcus, the governor of the south, is actually the role of a chief executive.

When there is a war in the area under his jurisdiction, he will cooperate with the legion's consul to act.

Usually, the maintenance of law and order in the area under its jurisdiction basically depends on the affiliated city-states.

So, before Marcus was ruthless, saying that Daqin really sent troops, he would do a real job.

That is whimsical!

The news kept coming in, and it was getting more and more accurate.

Marcus was not too worried about the Qin army on land.

Their strategic intention, at best, was to contain Roman forces, more like deterrence.

No matter how underestimated Marcus was, he didn't think that the Qin army really dared to attack Roman towns head-on.

After all, that would be a direct declaration of war with Rome.

What worries Marcus the most is Daqin's navy.

The purpose of Daqin's sending troops to Europe this time is known without question. Naturally, it is to avenge the Qin merchants who died in Sibal.

Although the city of Sibal is attached to Rome, legally speaking, the city of Sibal is completely independent.

Qin's attack on the city of Sibal was justified and well-founded. Strictly speaking, Rome had no reason to criticize it.

The Great Qin Navy has always been a mysterious army to Rome.

There are at least some examples to analyze the combat effectiveness of the Qin army on land.

But the Great Qin Navy, they only know that this army was established only three years ago.

According to some South Asian maritime merchants, the Great Qin Navy is extremely powerful.

However, the Senate scoffed at such rumors.

Playing naval battles, these European countries are masters!

How dare a navy that has only been established for three years come to Europe to show off its might?
However, the continuous news made Marcus, who was still a little lucky, completely sink into the bottom of his heart.

This time the Daqin Navy dispatched a total of hundreds of warships.

Leaving aside the specific combat power of the Great Qin Navy, let’s just talk about the ferocious battleship wrapped in huge iron armor. From the visual effect, it is obviously a monster on the sea!
Anyway, based on Marcus' knowledge, he really didn't want to face this kind of opponent.

Today, Marcus is vacillating.

On the one hand, he didn't want to give up in front of Qin Jun.

After all, Europe was arguably Rome proper.

If Rome admits to the Qin army that came thousands of miles away, how can it have authority in front of those subordinate city-states in the future?

On the other hand, Marcus really didn't want to provoke Qin Jun.

The injustice has the head and the debt has the owner.

That idiot Shactor caused the trouble himself, why should I, Marcus, bear it?
It's okay to be able to bear it, but it's more embarrassing than not being able to bear it, right?

At this point, Marcus hated Shactor to death.

But he couldn't say anything.

As early as when the movement of the Qin army was discovered on land, Marcus ordered the release of Shactor's house arrest, and told him that the Qin army had arrived.

That idiot actually said swearingly that the custody called Qin Jun never came back.

Tsk, those who don't know are so fearless!
Marcus's move did not mean to use Shaktor to test the quality of the Qin army.

Anyway, he wasn't going to take the lead.

In the southern waters of the Sipar Peninsula, a huge fleet is staying at this time.

There are a total of hundreds of black giant ships in this fleet.

Every giant ship is clearly different from the warships of the European duo that roam the sea.

At this time, in the tallest observation tower in Sibal City, Shaktor put away the telescope he had found from the goods of the Daqin merchant.

When facing Marcus before, Shactor was so arrogant that he didn't take Da Qin seriously at all.

In his opinion, Rome is the most powerful country he knows.

Using the analogy of Rome, the country at the eastern end of the world, no matter how powerful it is, cannot be much stronger than Rome, right?
Even Rome could not have sent troops across thousands of miles of sea to avenge some insignificant merchants.

Take ten thousand steps back, even if you want to, how many people can you send to attack yourself?
With Rome behind him, are you still afraid of an army coming from afar?

Shactor's wishful thinking was played loudly. Don't look at Marcus calling him an idiot, but after decades of being the city lord, how could it be possible that he really has no brains at all.

Because of this, Shactor didn't say a word when Marcus ordered him to be placed under house arrest.

Because Marcus's reaction doesn't mean that Rome hasn't given up on itself yet.

This time Marcus hastily released the house arrest, and Shactor thought the matter had been resolved.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the envoy sent by Marcus left, his brother-in-law Anbagan walked in with a panicked expression.

Ambakan told Shaktor that a strange navy appeared in the southern waters.

According to Marcus's envoy, it was Daqin's fleet.

Then, there was the present scene.

Shactor was extremely confident in his own judgment.

Daqin sent troops from afar, wanting to avenge the merchants of his country?

With such a long distance, they can send several warships.

Since Marcus let himself out at this juncture, it was obvious that he was going to let himself handle it.

In Shaktor's view, Rome shouldn't have taken this matter to heart at all.

So, he already has calculations.

If Daqin's army is easy to talk to, I don't mind showing some face, taking less ransom, and then sending those merchants back.

If the other party doesn't know good and bad, he doesn't mind letting the other party see it. Sibal City is not the soft-legged shrimp in the East, and they can be bullied casually.

This kind of self-confidence disappeared after Shaktor boarded the watchtower!
Who can tell me, what are these more than 100 sea monsters? !

You must know that even the powerful Roman navy may not be equipped with so many large warships.

Shactor rubbed his eyes, and raised the binoculars again.

In the binoculars, the huge black ship actually started to move, and it seemed to be slowly heading towards Sibal City.

"what--!"

Shaktor screamed, and the telescope in his hand fell directly to the ground.

"City Lord, we can't just sit and wait!" An Bagan said with a cold face.

At this time, Shaktor, who is big and round, has completely lost his sense of proportion.

Anba stepped forward and said again: "City Master, Daqin's navy is still far away from us, we need to make plans early!"

As the instigator of seizing Daqin merchants and looting Daqin goods, An Bagan knew very well what fate awaited him once the Daqin navy landed on the island.

"This is all caused by you, what do you think should be done?" Shaktor was in a state of confusion.

"Order our fleet to dispatch!" Anba said firmly.

Hearing this, Shaktor's eyeballs immediately turned red: "Are you crazy, Ambagan!"

"Although I don't know the combat methods of those black warships, our sea power is no match for them at all! If they are ordered to meet the enemy, they will be sent to die!"

Shaktor's voice was almost like a roar, which frightened the guards around him.

But Ambakan snorted coldly, looked directly at Shaktor, and said word by word: "They will not die, but we will die!"

Shaktor trembled all over, then closed his eyes in despair.

Here, I have to talk about the naval warfare pattern of this era.

Although today's Rome can compete with Carthage on the sea.

In fact, during the first Punic War 60 years ago, Rome knew nothing about naval warfare.

Therefore, in that protracted battle, Carthage completely controlled the command of the sea and defeated the Roman army steadily.

Even, the Carthaginians also used their maritime superiority to burn the flames of war to the mainland of Rome.

Rome, invincible on land, finally let go of its pride and began to build its own navy.
At that time, there was no shipyard in Rome capable of building large warships.

Fortunately Rome found a stranded Carthaginian warship.

The Senate summoned domestic skilled craftsmen to absorb the technology of this battleship.

It only took less than two months to successfully build one hundred five-remere battleships and twenty smaller three-remere battleships.

Although this is a stolen technology, it is not enough to completely offset the Carthaginians' superiority at sea.

However, as long as the Carthaginians can be contained at sea.

The current battlefield still needs to be placed on land.

After all, the Romans were only good at fighting on land.

Even at sea, they are accustomed to jumping into gangs and fighting hand-to-hand with each other.

Although 60 years have passed, during these 60 years, Rome and Carthage have fought constantly.

The development of sea-going ship technology has been stagnant.

So far, the Romans are still using five-row oar warships. At best, they have made some improvements on the warships and created a weird device called "crow suspension bridge".

This device can send soldiers to the opponent's warship to fight, which is very in line with the style of the Romans.

In addition, the city-states affiliated to Rome also use such warships.

For Sibal, there are now only thirty triremes and five quinqueremes in the entire city of Sibal.

As for this, Shakto developed it in half a year after he swallowed the goods of the Daqin merchants.

But these warships in the southern part of the Sipar Peninsula are completely different from those familiar to Europeans.

These battleships are all black, and there is no place for paddlers on them. Instead, there are a row of huge wheel paddles on both sides.

On each battleship, there are seven huge masts, and the sails painted black have also been lowered.

The most chilling thing is that the bows of these battleships are all covered with thick armor.

At the bow of the ship, there is also a pointed horn several meters long.

Shaktor can assure you that if his 35 warships rushed up, he would be committing suicide.

This is the wealth he has saved with great difficulty!
What Ambakan meant, he knew very well, that is to let his fleet delay time.

Use their lives to buy yourself time to escape.

Thinking of this, Shaktor's heart aches.

"Don't hesitate, if you don't make a decision, we will all die here!" Anba urged angrily.

"But."

"With Rome avenging them, why are you still hesitating!?"

(End of this chapter)