Destiny Only Han

Chapter 817 Liu Ying: On the eve of the decisive battle, a collision of ideas...

Eastern Mediterranean, Alexandria.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a total of 350 warships sailed out of the port, and the slaves worked hard to slide their long oars, heading east in a mighty way.

These ships are almost all the water power of the Romans in the entire Eastern Mediterranean.

Now they are going to set off in the dark, disappear from everyone's sight, and then attack the Seleucids' sea transport fleet by surprise!
Although the Roman proverb does not include the phrase "soldiers and horses move ahead without food and grass", this simple military concept is well known by people from different countries, groups, and nationalities.

Naturally, the Romans were ready to destroy the Seleucids' grain transport team, and then fight the hungry Seleucids.

The censor Marcus Polchius Cato was confident of this, because Rome was a nation good at learning war from war.

Compared with Seleucus, and their warships, Seleucus had two more devices on the warships obtained from Pergamum.

And these two devices once helped them to be invincible in the war with the Carthaginians, and finally succeeded in defeating their opponents, making Rome the sole overlord of the Western Mediterranean!

One of these is what's known as the Raven Drawbridge, which resembles a siege ladder and ends with a spike like a raven's beak protruding downward from a hinged, adjustable ramp.

The ramp will be hung on the front of the ship, so that the Roman captain only needs to steer the warship close to the enemy ship, and untie the ropes that fix the crow drawbridge, so that the crow drawbridge hits the deck of the enemy ship, and the iron nails at the front will Directly lock the two ships.

Then there is the boarding battle.

When the Roman infantry rushed up screaming, the Carthaginian crew had only two options: being killed or jumping into the sea by themselves.

After all, the infantry has no horses, and the world is invincible...

In the Punic War, the Romans used this device to massacre the elite sailors of Carthage, thereby quickly bringing the quality of the sailors on both sides to the same level, and then relying on the infantry advantage to win the final victory.

Of course, there are pros and cons to this device.

Because the crow suspension bridge seriously affected the maneuverability and seaworthiness, the Roman fleet that returned from victory was hit by a storm, and more than 300 ships and tens of thousands of people were lost...

But there was nothing left. It was summer at this time, and the sea was not very stormy. Besides, only a part of the ships in the Roman fleet were equipped with crow drawbridges, and the device that really killed the Quartet was another piece.

Hit the corner.

Although the ramming tactics using the ramming angle have been outdated in the Western Mediterranean region, the warships there are generally five-remere sailboats, which are large and slow. Although there are more sailors rowing, there is always a limit to manpower, and it cannot As powerful as a trireme, it directly cut the enemy ship in two with a sharp and heavy bronze ram!

But it is different in the Eastern Mediterranean. Cato was once the governor of Thrace. Naturally, he knew that triremes were still popular here. The technology that the Romans learned from the Carthaginians was still useful!

Therefore, Cato's plan is to use the ram to sink, or cut off the oars of the Seleucids, so that their ships lose power, and then let the ships equipped with the crow drawbridge approach for hand-to-hand combat, and seize the food and supplies on the opponent's ship. Other supplies!

It's just that after sailing for a day and a night, Cato did not find at sea that the Seleucid fleet was mighty and overwhelming, as those merchants said!

On the vast sea, they got nothing but a few merchant ships by chance!
"Will the news of the arrival of the legion be heard, and the Seleucids have fled?"

On the flagship, Cato, the fleet commander and financial officer of Sardinia, walked to Cato, and said with some uncertainty: "I should have detained that Greek merchant ship just now, and asked it carefully!"

Well, he is also a member of the Conservatives. Unlike Cato, he has an extreme hatred of Greek culture, and he regards himself as a defender of Roman traditional customs.

Cato glanced back at him, shook his head slightly, but said nothing.

He was also unwilling to return here, but the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is such a large area, and there are more than 300 ships on his side, even if the other party deliberately hides, they will definitely not be able to escape their sight!
Therefore, a bold guess was born in his heart.

"You said, did Seleucus's ship shrink in the port? They are not at sea!"

Cato was stunned for a moment: "It's possible... no, definitely!"

After all, such a large fleet is not at sea, it must be hidden in the port, and they sailed deliberately away from the coastline along the way in order not to be seen by people on land!
"Then you say, where will they be?"

After Cato finished speaking, he exchanged a glance with Cato, and at the same time a place name appeared in his mind.

Arish!

..............................

"I declare that this place will be renamed Ye County from today!"

Fan Zhen ran barefoot on the soft sand, with his arms wide open, and his baggy clothes blown away by the sea breeze, showing a bit of Wei-Jin style...

In particular, his little face was pale, and his appearance was hollowed out by wine, and he seemed to be swaying in the wind, very much like those celebrities...

Behind him, Xu An curled his lips in disdain: "First of all, it's called a palm tree! Secondly, only His Majesty the Emperor has the right to change the name of a place!"

"Huh? Really?" Mrs. Fan scratched her head, "I thought someone else took all the coconuts..."

Chong Zhong nodded invisibly, and at the same time thanked himself for not talking too much.

The place where they are now is a small city called 'Arish', one of the few oases on the Sinai Peninsula.

In fact, even if there is sufficient rainfall at this point in time, the farthest point from the edge of the desert to Arish City is less than a hundred kilometers away!
But despite this, this small city also has a population of 6 to [-], and in Egypt, where the royal government does not leave Alexandria, the people of Arish live well. They have bread and beer on weekdays, and occasionally they can get food from Bedouins Trade some camel milk and sheep meat to improve the food, so that you don’t have to eat dates like in previous years...

Therefore, when the defenders in the city knew that the army under the banner of Seleucid was going to attack Alexandria, they decisively chose to conclude a peace treaty with Antiochus IV.

That is, they surrendered the city, and the Seleucids promised not to massacre the people in the city...

Under the restraint of Mrs. Fan and others, Antiochus IV also kept his promise, and even ordered the army to be stationed outside the city, and no one soldier was allowed to enter the city!
After all, this will be the Egyptian Governor's Palace of the Han Empire.

After playing for a while, Mrs. Fan became a little less interested, squatting on the beach bored and started digging out crabs: "Wait, wait, just yelling, I don't know when I will arrive in Egypt, I want to see whose What does the tomb look like..."

Chong Zhong squatted beside him, also muttering in a low voice: "Yes, I want to go too, Your Majesty said that there are golden apples in the tomb... By the way, what are golden apples?"

Xu An and the two of them knelt down head to head: "I know about apples, but the apples here are not as delicious as the ones His Majesty planted in Shanglin Garden... But I don't understand golden apples. I just heard my sister say, It seems to be a magic weapon that can control people's thinking..."

"Your sister?" Mrs. Fan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, and at the same time, a more longing look appeared on her face.

After all, Xu An is Xu Negative's older brother, and Xu Negative is Liu Ying's concubine, so he naturally knows much more about such secrets than their foreign ministers...

Chong Zhong also had the same expression, looked at Xu An and asked, "Do you know why His Majesty the Emperor asked us to wait here? The army has already gathered here, and it's not a problem to spend so much every day!"

Xu An shook his head: "I know as much as you. Your Majesty asked us to wait here for Wu She, so let's wait. Anyway, the money given by the defenders in the city is enough to pay half a month's wages for the army..."

Well, he was referring to the wages of the Han army.

After all, the veterans have already retired, and they have dedicated themselves to Han for many years. The only reason for them to pick up their swords and guns at this moment is the temptation of money!

Mrs. Fan snorted, like a child losing his temper: "Wait for Wushe, wait for Wushe! When we set off from Pergamon, the old man said he was on the way. Now that it's been so long, it's time to climb over , Send him a telegram later and ask where the old guy went!"

Xu An and Chong Zhong looked at each other and smiled, but before they could make a move, a very familiar voice sounded behind them.

"To!"

....................................

Anman Dufu.

In the early morning, the sun jumped out of the sea, and the earth quickly became hot.

At this time, the air was very clear, so people only took a look at the inland area, and found that it had become yellow and misty again, as if a sandstorm was brewing.

But the people here are not worried. After all, the sea breeze here is stronger, enough to blow the yellow sand back into the desert...

In the Duhu mansion, most of the guards Penghou Qintong sighed helplessly.

He is from Xue County, and Xiang Liang was the first to follow during the chaos at the end of Qin Dynasty. Later, Liu Bang received Xiang Liang's angel round investment, that is, he sent an army of 5000 people to Liu Bang to retake Pei County.

Qin Tong was among the 5000 people.

The ancients paid attention to giving favors without repaying them, and Xiang Liang naturally did the same. Therefore, after he lent out the 5000 people, he never took them back.

So Qin Tong became Liu Bang's subordinate. He followed Liu Bang all the way to destroy Qin in the west, Hanzhong in the south, and the Sanqin, and conquered Zhao in the north and Qi in the east. Hou.

When Qin Tongdong conquered Qi, Liu Ying served as the supervisor of the army.

Therefore, he appointed another Chief Protector of the Anman Protectorate Mansion, who will serve for ten years and return to Chang'an when the term expires.

And the reason why he sighed so much at this moment was because he didn't understand the conditions of the Anman Protectorate, so he boasted that he could see results in five years, and recover all the previous investment in ten years!
But now, he just wants to go back to the beginning and slap himself twice...

Even if the port is built and becomes an important node of the so-called trade between the East and the West, ten years will not be enough to recoup the previous investment in such a place that is so useless!

After all, how much money can you make by just collecting service fees?
The most important thing is farming, or setting up factories...

But this is an overseas territory of the empire, and the construction of factories is prohibited, so the only option left is farming...

But at this moment, listening to the whistling wind faintly, Qin Tong sighed more and more. After all, the wind and sand were heavy, and there was no water. Unless the irrigation canal was repaired, otherwise, don't think about farming!
But the crux of the problem is that without food, there will be no population, and without population, there will be no infrastructure.

In fact, he has some labor here.

Well, those Roman prisoners of war captured before were sent to the port to build a pier...

However, this was what gave him such a headache at the moment.

The Roman prisoners of war were different from the slaves he had seen in other places. These people were almost all free citizens, to be precise, citizens of a higher rank than free citizens. Although they could not decide which laws and resolutions the Senate promulgated, they had With votes, you can decide whether a person can enter the Senate!

So, how can a person who has enjoyed freedom and power endure being a slave to others?

In the past half a month, the Roman prisoners of war held in the port have taken advantage of the loopholes of the overseer's patrol to sneak away nine times!

Although under the tracking of wolf dogs and local tribal camel cavalry, the escaped slaves were captured without exception, but this kind of behavior will undoubtedly become the object of imitation for other prisoners of war!

And this is the result of killing the chickens to make an example to the monkeys, locking those fugitives in cages, and letting the sun expose them to death!
But freedom is always desirable.

As the Hungarian poet Petofi described in "Freedom and Love", life is precious, and love is more expensive; if it is for freedom, both can be thrown away!

Just last night, another small group of more than ten prisoners of war escaped successfully!

When Qin Tong was at his wit's end, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old assistant officer walked in outside the door. He had a slim waist and a good figure. Unfortunately, he had a lot of pimples on his face, which made people feel unbearable to look at him directly.

"Prince Guard, he has been captured!"

"So fast?"

"When they went back to the Chief Protector, they just pretended to escape, but they were actually still hiding at the pier, planning to steal a boat and row back, but the boat they touched was manned, so they were caught right away..."

"Hahaha!"

Qin Tong laughed loudly, and stood up abruptly: "Come on, Chen Cheng, take someone to see those smart guys!"

Chen Cheng asked softly: "Could it be that the chief guard is going to execute them again?"

Qin Tong was taken aback for a moment: "Otherwise?"

Chen Cheng stood still and asked seriously:
"Can killing really solve the problem? In my opinion, it can't. It's not that the guards haven't killed before, and the punishment is not cruel. Among them, the ruthless prisoner of war howled for a whole day in the cage. The incomparable day, when the sun is about to die, it finally dies!"

"But what they get in return is not their obedience, but all kinds of obedience, adultery, and trickery!"

Qin Tong narrowed his eyes: "You read a lot, you give uncle an idea..."

(End of this chapter)