Chen Tang originally thought that it would be more difficult for the enemy to attack if he received reinforcements.But no one expected that the arrival of the Romans would lead to the loss of the causeway and the fall of Pharos.The Han soldiers who were arranged by Chen Tang on the other side of the causeway were shocked, and the incident happened very suddenly, the dozen or so "Great Qin" warships that arrived suddenly engaged in battle with Ptolemy's fleet, and there was also a fire fight on Pharos Island.The Roman mercenaries, who had been Pompey's subordinates, joined the battle after a moment of froze, chanting Pompey's name.By the end of the battle, the Han army had taken the opportunity to cross the causeway and occupy the port and town of Pharos, leaving only the bright lighthouse still in the hands of the Romans.After only a short while, Septimius, the leader of the Roman mercenaries, walked out of the fortress with a head in his hand, saying that he was representing Pompey and wanted to negotiate with the queen and co-ruler of Seris.Septimius was tall and dressed in a long-obsolete Corinthian armor, and the "jackal" wielded the meteor hammer, carrying in his hand the head of Potinus, a close confidant of Ptolemy XIII, chancellor of the exchequer and eunuch.This eunuch was the mastermind of the Egyptian civil war, the break between the pharaoh and the queen, and Cleopatra VII hated this man to the core, and was still angry when he saw the head."
He should be fed to the crocodile!"
She glared at Septimius again and sneered, "My brother is the same!
Septimius, why didn't you bring his body with you if you were going to surrender?
”Septimius did not answer, but lowered his head, and he did not expect things to come to this situation.As a Gabinian, he had been a centurion twenty years earlier when Pompey had suppressed pirates in the Mediterranean, and seven years earlier Pompey had sent him to escort the pipers back home and re-ascend to the throne of Pharaoh, and since then he has remained in Alexandria with 2,000 Roman mercenaries.Nominally loyal to Ptolemy, in reality, this mercenary was still Pompey's men, the great general who had fought for more than 30 years: he put down the Spartacus uprising, crucified 6,000 captives, conquered Numibia in North Africa, turned the kingdom of Pontus and Seleucas in Asia Minor into provinces, and became the first Romans to enter the Jewish Temple.It also fought near the Caucasus and pushed the territory of the Roman Republic to the far east.After the force overcame public opinion, he sent troops to protect the Ptolemaic dynasty.Pompey himself became the "king of kings" of the Eastern kingdoms, and with control of Spain, he was the most powerful man in Rome.But such a person was defeated in the Roman Civil War by Caesar, who only owned Gaul and was declared a "public enemy" by Pompey and the Senate!
Last year, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, Pompey was defeated in Italy, and had to flee to Greece with the Republicans, reorganizing his legions with the intention of counterattacking.Septimius was full of confidence in his old master, and the last time he learned the news was more than a month ago, when Pompey's army defeated Caesar on the west coast of the Greek peninsula, and heard that he would soon counterattack Italy and return to Rome.When he and Ptolemy's retainers were trapped on Pharos, they expected that Pompey would go south to support him after he had collected Caesar.But just over a month later, Pompey suddenly lost everything, and hurried south with only two thousand men and a dozen ships, in order to get the help of the Ptolemaic dynasty to help him repel Caesar, who was pursuing behind him.Then the two sides found that everyone could not protect themselves.Potinius then suggested to Ptolemy XIII and Septimius that since Pompey had lost the war, he could only count on Caesar to help the Egyptians, and that it would be better to trick Pompey into killing him!
Septimius was also moved, but quickly dispelled this idea, as he was an old friend of Pompey; The second is that although Pompey is old, he still has prestige after many years of fighting, and there are many people who respect him among the mercenaries.As a result, Septimius secretly informed Pompey of the plans of Ptolemy's courtiers, which led to a firefight, and Ptolemy XIII had been held hostage by the Romans.In front of the queen and General Ren Hong, of course, Septimius would not tell the truth about these tragic things of Pompey."
The consul said that he was a close friend of Ptolemy XII the Piper, and that he had seen the young queen in Rome, and knew that the piper's last wish was to put the queen in power."
Septimius added: "I have never been against the queen either. ”Yes, he just took the Roman mercenaries to sit and watch the infighting of the Ptolemaic royal family, who believed that he was the real ruler of Egypt.Pompey asked Septimius to convey his greetings to Ren Hong."
The Archon has long heard of the name of the Syris's Co-Ruler and admires your conquests in India and Bactria."
I've often heard of Pompey's name."
Ren Hong asked Oh Jae-han, who was acting as an interpreter, to tell this person."
In Dahan, General Pang has been hailed as the first general in Haixi."
Ren Hong smiled: "But in the past ten years, General Pompey seems to have slacked off, and what I hear more often is Caesar's name!"
”Ren Hong said: "Please go back and ask General Pompey, Caesar's pursuers are still a few days away from Egypt?"
Please don't send people back and forth, we have a common enemy, if General Pang wants to turn defeat into victory, and he is ashamed, I specially invite him to bring that child Pharaoh to the port to meet me and the queen!
”"The general knows Rome so well!"
Cleopatra was a little surprised, the Romans have become popular with silk in recent years, whether it is Egypt or Parthia, in fact, they have intentionally or unintentionally obstructed the direct communication between the Seris and Rome, hoping to monopolize the benefits of silk.But General Ren seemed to know the Roman Civil War well, and could tell Pompey's predicament in one mouth.Can you not know?
After all, all kinds of films, television, and games have interpreted this history so much, by the way, in those stories, Cleopatra can account for a large role."
What does the queen know about Pompey and Caesar?"
Seven years ago, the queen went to Rome with the piper for help, and saw the fat general in his fifties many times at banquets, and he was married to Caesar's daughter, an old husband and a young wife.As for Caesar, compared to Pompey, who had risen to prominence in the era of Sulla and Marius, Caesar was the weakest and insignificant of the Triumvirate, and he only became famous when he became governor of Gaul ten years ago.When Caesar conquered Gaul, it was also the time when Ren Hong was killing all sides in India.And now, the distance between them is extremely close!"
Caesar is probably also after Pompey, and will soon arrive in Egypt."
Ren Hong looked at the queen: "Is the queen ready?"
”The queen looked at the head of the eunuch on the ground: "Although I hate Pothinus, his solution is probably the best, Egypt is powerless to compete with the whole of Rome, and the best way now is to kill Pompey and send his head soaked in olive oil in exchange for Caesar's retreat." ”From the perspective of Egypt's interests, this is indeed the best choice, but not for Ren Hong.And with the entangled friendship between Caesar and Pompey, seeing that old Pompey is dead, Caesar is afraid that Caesar will be furious, right?
Ren Hong shook his head and began to persuade Empress Yan: "Doesn't the queen want to restore the glory of the Ptolemaic family and let Egypt win independence and freedom from Rome?"
”"Now is the best opportunity, why give it up?""
Pompey has been cornered and has to ask you and me for help, your allies will not only be big men, but also Pompey!""
A divided Rome is in the best interest of Egypt."
It is also the most beneficial for him, Ren Hong did not swell because of the easy defeat of the Ptolemaic army, he has to deal with the Romans!
Although the original bronze cannons were better than the ballistas, there were only a few, and the black powder was only enough for another battle.It was the tail of the south wind season, and Caesar's army could not go straight south through the fleet, but even if there were only two or three legions, it would be enough for the Han army and the queen's army that had just surrendered to drink a pot.Therefore, Ren Hong needs Pompey's help, and he, Pompey, and the queen join forces to repel Caesar in order to calmly transport the books and delay the unification of the Mediterranean.Ren Hong also told the queen the story of the Central Plains' "dead lips and cold teeth"."
Pompey had no ambitions for Egypt, otherwise he would not have helped the Piper to restore his country seven years ago.And Caesar, who could conquer Gaul, who knows not Egypt?
”Historically, it was Cleopatra who conquered Caesar, but now that she was conquered by Ren Hong, Cleopatra bit her lip and fell into contemplation, she was cunning, weighing the severity, if it was all up to her, she would definitely be inclined to kill Pompey to seek Caesar's peace.But now, the Han army controls Alexandria, and General Ren personally controls her with a team of guards!
The queen understands that General Ren seems to be consulting herself, but in fact she has already made a decision for herself, and she can change her camp in the future and negotiate peace with Caesar, but today, she can only follow the arrangement of the Seris.She looked at Ren Hong and smiled: "I have seen the power of the Ceris army to control the thunder, and I believe that even if Caesar lands with a few legions, the general will still easily defeat him!"
”Let these men fight each other, and whoever wins, she will be the last winner.And Wu Zaihan, who went to the Faros Lighthouse, also brought back the news at this time: "General Hussar, General Pang of the Great Qin State, is willing to bring the pseudo-pharaoh to the port to talk with the general!"
”It was a historic meeting.Two generals who were also slightly chubby, one was Pompey, the "sole consul" from Rome, although the defeat was embarrassing, but the pomp could not be left behind, and beside him were guards with rods and axes, but the sticks were particularly wrapped with olive branches today.Behind him was the terrified Ptolemy XIII, who, though only fifteen or sixteen years old, knew that he would fall into the hands of his sister and that he would have a tragic end.The other was the great Sima hussar general from China, Xi'an Hou Renhong, who was also the guard of honor of the fake Huang Yue, who personally came to greet Pompey, and the Han soldiers were solemn and waiting.The two met in Alexandria, where Ren Hong bowed to Pompey, who also treated him with Roman etiquette.After they talked a few words, they even laughed and hugged each other under the introduction of Cleopatra with a smile, as if they became close friends as soon as they met.The young grandson of Chu Shaosun, the squire of the Han Dynasty, stood on tiptoe and watched this scene intently, Pompey's identity as "consul" was understood by him as "regent of the Great Qin State".And the war between Caesar and Pompey, Chu Shaosun understood it as a battle for regency, after all, the general of the Haixi Great Qin State Zhiluo said that the people of the Great Qin people wanted to restore the country, so its founder had a testament saying: "The emperor who restored the Central Plains." ”Therefore, there is no king and no father, only the people of the regent, who change every few years, and each generation is determined to go east.Therefore, in terms of Pompey's status, it is never an exaggeration to say that "the third prince is super".As for the "" in Pompey's honor guard, he thought it was: "The Great Qin State also has the ritual of the axe!"
Although the hair is broken and the clothes are dressed, there is also the afterglow of the Central Plains ritual system in the subtleties. ”After the meeting and greetings, in a small temple by the port, the idle people were dispersed, and the new triumvirate met on the spot, because it was a secret talk, only Wu Zaihan was accompanied as an interpreter, and even Chu Shaosun could not enter, so he was not depressed.But he also understands General Ren's decision-making: "Now that the Kai regent is in charge of the national affairs of Great Qin, and this Pang regent is defeated and left, the general wants to join forces with Pang to control Kai, so that the civil strife of Great Qin will not be extinguished, so as to consume its national strength." ”Chu Shaosun could only wander around the periphery anxiously, carefully observing the Roman attire, and sent someone to help translate, and asked Pompey's son, the Roman officer Sextus who was known as "Little Pompey"."
Pang Gongzi."
Chu Shaosun was very serious and waved at Sektus: "When I was in the Han Dynasty, I heard that Pang Regent was the Wei general Pang Juan, is this rumor true?"
”PS: Referring to Caesar's own account of the Civil War, there is still only one chapter.