Rome must fall.

Chapter 433 Anthony Returns to Help

Caesar listened to the two men's argument and asked, "How many of Pompey's soldiers surrendered to us?"

"There are more than 300 infantry, including the First Legion and the Fifteenth Legion (which were previously withdrawn from Caesar by the Senate and later incorporated into Pompey's army), but there are only more than cavalry," Antony replied.

Caesar hesitated for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Antony, you lead the 9th and 10th Legions and the more than 20,000 surrendered troops to capture Dyrrachium as soon as possible! I believe that once the news of the victory of this war spreads there, the enemy will definitely not want to defend it. You should be able to successfully capture Pompey's camp and rescue your poor brother."

The last sentence made Anthony feel a little embarrassed, and he cursed fiercely in his heart.

"If he is still alive, you should let him lead a force and march north along the coast to cut off the Nixen's route of return. If he is unfortunately dead, you should choose a suitable general to carry out this task. Then you should lead the main force across the Adriatic Sea and rush to the northern Italian province as soon as possible to meet with Trebonius. I will appoint him as your deputy general and work together to fight against the invading Nixen.

Please note that the Nyx are very different from ordinary Gallic tribes! As far as I know, they have a large population, are relatively wealthy, and have strong manufacturing capabilities. More importantly, their army seems to be organized according to our Roman military system, and their tactics are somewhat similar to ours -"

Everyone was very surprised to hear this.

"It can be seen that the Nic people are well aware of our Roman strength, but they still dare to invade us, which shows that they are fully prepared and think they are confident that they can defeat us!" Caesar warned Antony with a serious look: "So you must not be careless. If you find that the Nic army is indeed a bit tricky, don't rush into a battle. First, hold Padua, Verona and Hostilia, and stop the Nic army in the Aquileia area to prevent them from trampling on more territories in the northern Italian province!
"I will rush to meet you after I finish the fighting here and completely eliminate the Nikos people! If you defeat the Nikos army, remember! Don't risk crossing the mountains to attack their territory. Wait until I get back. Do you understand?!"

The tone of this last sentence was so strong that Antony was startled and quickly responded: "I understand, Caesar!"

Caesar paced a few more steps with his hands behind his back, his brows still furrowed. "If the Gauls know about the invasion of the Nyx, there will be problems. You can't let down your guard there! If you find that something is wrong, I allow you to temporarily form two more legions!"

"Yes, Caesar!"

After Caesar finished speaking, the clerk quickly wrote the memorandum according to his wishes. He took it, glanced at it, signed his name without making any changes, and handed it to Antony. He also earnestly instructed: "When you arrive in the northern Italian province, you must act cautiously, consult more with Trebonius, and listen to his opinions with an open mind..."

"Caesar, don't worry!" Anthony nodded sincerely.

Caesar was actually still a little worried.

Caesar knew Antony. This young man lacked political talent. He had not done well in Rome before. But in terms of military affairs, he was quite capable. He could lead reinforcements across the sea to join him at a critical moment. His performance during the war with Pompey was also commendable...

However, he was sometimes too direct in his actions. Would the enemy seize this weakness when he led the army alone? ... Although Caesar was worried, there was no one more suitable than Antony who was more trustworthy and capable of taking on this important task, so he could only suppress this uneasiness in his heart.

Caesar took a deep breath and said loudly: "Notify the 13th Legion and the Cavalry to complete their rest as soon as possible. After I finish my meal, I will personally lead them to pursue Pompey! The rest of the troops must also catch up tomorrow. Just like Sulla said just now, we must pursue Pompey non-stop so that he has no time to organize an army to counterattack, so that he can be captured by us as soon as possible and end this war!"

"Yes, Caesar!" everyone responded in unison.

Caesar looked around at everyone, feeling a sense of pride and responsibility at the same time.

Yes! Should he lead his army back to aid the northern Italian province? Or continue to pursue Pompey? ... Caesar would of course choose the latter first. He must personally capture Pompey, the great Roman general, to let the general public realize who is the real strong man in Rome! In addition, he must personally lead the army to destroy the Kingdom of Nix and obtain the magical papermaking and printing technology, so as to create a new glory for Rome!
By then, he will have gathered all the glory in one person, and there will be nothing he cannot achieve!

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Antony led his army back west, but the news of Pompey's disastrous defeat in the decisive Battle of Pharsalus reached Dyrrachium faster than him.

The conservative senators who stayed there panicked, and the soldiers even mutinied. Cato wanted Cicero to be the commander-in-chief and use his prestige to stabilize the situation in Dyrrachium.

Cicero refused on the spot.

Seeing that the situation was chaotic and irreversible, Cato finally decided to lead part of the garrison that was still loyal to him across the sea to Cyrenaica.

When Antony's army arrived at Dyrrachium, Pompey's camp, the camp gates were wide open and the remaining soldiers lined up to surrender, led by Antony's brother Lucius.

"Lucius, you persuaded the soldiers to surrender, which not only prevented our compatriots from killing each other, but also helped Caesar capture the important city of Dyrrachium. This is a great achievement!" Antony said loudly in public.

In fact, Lucius did not play a big role in the riot of the Dyrrachian garrison and the final decision to surrender to Caesar. It was only after learning that it was Antony who was leading the army that the officers pushed Lucius out to avoid excessive punishment from Antony.

Anthony took advantage of the situation and gave the credit to his brother.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Anthony, you've made great progress after not seeing you for a few months!" A sarcastic voice came from the crowd.

Antony heard the sarcasm in the words and was furious. After seeing who was speaking, he suppressed his anger and retorted: "Who did I think it was? It turned out to be Pompey's most loyal subordinate, Lord Cicero. Why didn't you run away with Pompey?"

"I am only loyal to Rome!" Cicero walked up to Antony and said calmly, "I followed my heart and joined Pompey, but Pompey's incompetence made me sad! Now I am ready to return to Rome. Of course, you can arrest me and imprison me!"

Antony stretched out his right hand, spread out his five fingers and grabbed Cicero's eyes. Seeing Antony leaning back subconsciously, Cicero laughed and said, "Don't worry, I have no interest in you. You can go wherever you want, just don't hang around in front of me."

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Antony knew very well that even though Cicero stood on Pompey's side, he had a close relationship with Caesar. They even communicated with each other from time to time after the outbreak of the civil war. If he rashly punished Cicero, Caesar would probably be dissatisfied. It would be better to let Caesar deal with this guy who could only talk.

Antony left Cicero aside, looked around at the surrendered army, and shouted loudly: "Roman citizens, you were deceived by those stupid Roman elders before and followed the rebellious Pompey to fight against Rome! Facts have proved that justice will prevail over evil, the great Caesar has won the war, and Pompey, who disrupted Rome, fled in a panic. He will soon be captured, and Rome will soon restore order! You made the right choice at this time, which is good, but it is not enough to make up for the mistakes you made before! -"

When he said this, he paused deliberately to make the surrendered soldiers feel nervous.

"Fortunately, you are lucky. The barbarians in the north have invaded the Northern Italian province at this time. Caesar ordered me to repel these enemies who have occupied Roman territory and killed the Roman people. If you are willing to fight for me and save the people of the Northern Italian province, you will no longer be a sinner of Rome, but a hero in the hearts of the people! If you perform bravely on the battlefield, you will be rewarded! My last question is, are you willing to follow me to the Northern Italian province to fight?!"

"Yes!! We are willing!!!..." The surrendered soldiers shouted in unison. They were so eager to get rid of the embarrassing situation.

Cicero was very surprised. Because the three northern provinces deliberately concealed the news, he had not heard the news that "the northern Italian provinces were invaded by barbarians". Now the Roman Senate has become Caesar's one-man show. Before the old order is restored, Cicero really doesn't want to go to Rome to suffer, so he made up his mind: follow Antony's army and go to the northern Italian provinces to take a look.

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The city of Aquileia has changed a lot compared to a month ago. Not only are the city walls dilapidated, but a dragon flag fluttering in the wind has been erected on the top of the city.

The leaders of the Nix army gathered in the former Roman Legion Council Hall in the city. Amid the noise, the voice of the German leader Icarobio was the loudest: "We German warriors just broke through Padua and haven't looted much, but Maximus wants us to come back and attack Aquileia!
We finally conquered Aquileia and were about to reach Padua when we received an order to return as soon as possible! If King Nix doesn't explain to us clearly, we will disband! ..."

"King Maximus is here!!" The shouts of the guards outside the hall put an abrupt end to Icarobio's complaints, and the hall immediately became very quiet.

(End of this chapter)