Qiang Qin

The bells of the battle for supremacy at sea in the Mediterranean ceased.

The new fleet hastily assembled by the Romans ceased to exist under the attack of the joint forces of Qin and Carthage. The Roman navy, composed of merchant sailors and mercenaries, was obviously weaker in terms of combat power. Like the great sunset country of the Roman Republic, it is about to wither before it is fully opened.

The Roman fleet was nearly wiped out off the coast of Corsica.This battle quickly spread from Genoa to the entire Apennines. The Roman authorities who were going all out to deal with the Qin Army's offensive on the east front were shocked. Without the protection of the navy, the outer protection of the entire peninsula would become fragmented. It is possible to carry soldiers to the Roman mainland at any place.

Faced with such a dangerous situation, Scipio didn't care to sit on the front line of the Alps, and hurriedly ordered Pompey to defend with all his strength, and then returned south with more than [-] elite soldiers.

In the 18th year of the Daqin calendar, Lixia.

Port Vell, the capital of the Roman Iberian province that had lost its sea supplies, fell. About 3000 Roman troops guarding the city laid down their weapons and surrendered to the general of the Qin army, Li Zhongxiang.

During the surrender process, the arrogance of the Romans was once again revealed. They stubbornly insisted on excluding the Carthaginian side, which annoyed Hannibal, who was aiming for revenge. Afterwards, the Carthaginian army Massacres were carried out in the northeastern part of Iberia, and nearly tens of thousands of Roman adherents were beheaded.

Under the bloody storm, the crisis of the Roman Republic was imminent.

Facing the grim situation, Scipio held an emergency Senate meeting in Rome. At this meeting, Scipio proposed that he be the speaker of the Senate. This proposal was passed with little resistance. , As a result, Scipio, the Roman military strongman, finally combined military power and political power, and the Roman republic system also ceased to exist at this moment, and was replaced by the new dictatorship system of the Roman Empire.

Republic and dictatorship.

They are two important comparative indicators in the course of human history.

at the beginning of human civilization.Collective deliberation bodies like the Roman Senate largely promoted social development at that time, and the Romans gradually developed from a small and weak city-state to the most powerful country in the Mediterranean by virtue of this republican system.

However, with the further development of the social economy, especially in the face of the oppression and blows of the powerful Qin Dynasty in the east, the shortcomings of the Roman republic system are undoubtedly revealed. initiative.

October to November.

For a whole month, Scipio ordered to shrink his troops to defend against the Qin army's attack step by step.On the other hand, it hastened to start military reform measures at home.

In this reform, Scipio and his cronies made a lot of determination. Among them, at the military and military level, many measures were related to Qin. Even if they were in a hostile relationship, the Romans finally had no choice but to If they don't admit it, they have to learn the strengths of the eastern enemies, otherwise.They are really going to destroy the country.

At the military level, Scipio decided to change the army from a phalanx to a legionary combat formation. This change was also the embryonic form of the formation of the Roman infantry legion in history.Soldiers' weapons are no longer provided by the soldiers themselves.Instead, it imitated the method of Qin's military manufacturing, and it was uniformly manufactured by the country's special weapon manufacturing department.

Short sword, heavy javelin.

These two types of weapons, which can give full play to the advantages of Roman soldiers in close hand-to-hand combat and long-range strikes, were recognized by Roman generals such as Scipio, and they were uniformly equipped in the army. The weapons of Roman soldiers before were mainly spears and bows.Swords and javelins were only auxiliary weapons, but now that spears were replaced by heavy javelins, the Romans' long-range strike ability was greatly improved at once.It is conceivable that when the two armies confront each other, the Romans' javelin forest will be overwhelming, which will bring much pressure to the opponent.

In addition, the short sword newly issued by the Roman army is about two feet long and two inches wide. It is very heavy and has a very sharp tip.Hilts can be made of wood, bone, ivory, or metal.The function of this kind of short sword is better at stabbing rather than slashing, and its power can be more manifested in close combat.

In terms of defensive weapons, the Romans also imitated the shield style of the Qin State, and changed the original round shield into a strong oblong convex surface. This kind of shield is more in line with the characteristics of the human body. Covering it can easily block the shooting of the Qin army's crossbow arrows.

In addition to the improvement of weapons, the most obvious change in the Roman army's conscription is the addition of two fixed arms, the standing army and the reserve juvenile soldiers.

Under the original compulsory military service system, Roman soldiers farmed in peacetime and went out in wartime, and had little opportunity for concentrated tactical training. Now, the Romans decided to follow the example of the Qin army and adjust all the existing front-line soldiers into a standing army. The soldiers’ equipment, food, luggage and utensils are all reissued by the state, instead of being borne by the soldiers’ individual families. Like the military knight system, soldiers who have made military exploits are commended.

The reserve juvenile soldiers are mainly composed of teenagers who have reached the age of thirteen but not yet sixteen. Although these teenagers have not yet matured physically, they have a strong sense of patriotism under the agitation of the imperial propaganda machine, especially for the Scipio, a military leader, is loved from the bottom of his heart. Therefore, training these young soldiers is crucial for Rome to change the unfavorable battlefield situation in the next few years.

The pace of the Romans' militarization reforms was carried out hastily under the oppression of the Qin army. The Qin State also noticed these changes in the Apennine Peninsula. However, Li Yuan is now more concerned about the northern foothills of the Alps. tough battle.

The winter snow in the Alps fell extraordinarily thick this year, and the advance of the Qin army encountered great difficulties, especially heavy weapons could not be transported up, which made the various Qin armies who could only fight with light weapons stand in front of them. When facing the dangerous pass, we can only look at it and sigh.

After Scipio returned home, the [-] Roman troops commanded by Pompey, the remaining Roman general, strangled the important passes in the northern mountains. Their existence was like invisible chains, binding the Qin army. During this period, the Qin army did not fail to try to break through one or two passes, and then went around behind the enemy to shake the entire Roman defense line, but the effect was still unsatisfactory. (to be continued..)