"That's right! In this way, our army has completely broken away from the Greek defense line and successfully returned to the Roman mainland! In this way, the significance of the Greeks capturing Sicily is completely lost! When Rome reintegrates its internal resources and sends troops south again, the ones who will be dragged down by logistics will be the Greeks, not the Romans!" Octavian also laughed.
"Don't be too happy! After all, our army took the initiative to avoid this battle, which will inevitably affect the morale of the army. Moreover, if our army takes a detour back to the Roman mainland and Egypt in the south, it will probably be attacked by the Greeks immediately! After returning to Rome, we must complete the expansion as soon as possible, and then take advantage of the absence of the main Greek force to directly attack the Greek mainland. We must gain the initiative in the war from the beginning!" Caesar said seriously.
Attack mainland Greece!
Antony and Octavian were shocked to hear Caesar say this!
Taking a detour back to the Roman mainland was indeed equivalent to leaving Egypt in the south, Canaan in the west, and the Mesopotamian region to the Greek expeditionary force.
King Stoby is no fool and will definitely take advantage of the opportunity.
Among them, the person most likely to be attacked was Caesar's lover, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.
Seeing Caesar and Cleopatra's affectionate and lasting vows, Antony and Octavian both believed that Caesar would definitely do his utmost to protect Cleopatra.
As soon as the army returned to Rome for rest and replenishment, it would definitely head south immediately to rescue Egypt.
However, Caesar never expected that he didn't care about Egypt at all. Instead, he wanted to use Egypt to delay the main force of King Stobi.
This will make it easier for us to raid the Greek mainland and seize the initiative in the war!
Both of them couldn't help but sigh. The so-called heroes were all cold-blooded and ruthless! No matter how nice their promises were on weekdays, when faced with a major choice of interests, they would not be bound by those things at all!
"It is truly admirable that our king sacrificed his personal feelings for Rome. However, King Strobius also has people like Hannibal and Spartacus who understand Rome very well. Perhaps they will not go south, but choose other ways to deal with it." Octavian pondered.
"Haha. King Stobi is not a god, and it is impossible for him to do things beyond the limits of human power! The initiative of the war has returned to my hands, and there are not many options for him to choose from! If he doesn't attack Egypt, does he dare to attack Rome? As for returning home, he can't convince the people! More than 10 million troops have been on an expedition for several months, and they only captured Sicily, which cannot be defended. He has no face to go back! If I were him, going south to Egypt would be the only feasible option." Caesar answered arrogantly.
"Well, what if the Greeks come after us right away?"
Hearing this, Anthony had an idea and wanted to raise this possibility again.
However, this thought only lingered in his mind and he never spoke it out loud.
Caesar was right.
King Stobi is not a god and cannot do anything beyond human power.
After receiving the news, our side decisively turned north. It took at least three days for King Stobi to react.
The Greek expeditionary force was not a small force, it was larger than their own army of 10 million!
They wanted to catch up immediately, but without three to five days of preparation, they might not be able to leave the port!
What's more, Lord Caesar is very cautious in his actions.
To prevent being overtaken, he also ordered the Roman fleet to continue advancing at night. The weather was also good, with clear skies all the way, which was very beneficial for the fleet's night sailing.
In this way, it would be impossible for the Greeks to catch up before they arrived at the port of Venice!
If I ask such a stupid question at this moment, wouldn't Caesar laugh at me and lower my status in Caesar's heart?
That would just be a waste of money for Octavian, who had been competing with him for the best deputy!
Everything that needed to be discussed had been discussed, and the Roman fleet continued to move north as planned.
Three days passed.
It is less than two days away from Venice, a major city north of Rome!
Caesar, Antony and Octavian all began to relax.
The Roman soldiers in the fleet were also extremely excited as they were getting closer and closer to their homeland. Their hearts had already flown to the mainland, no longer caring about whether there would be any dangers at sea.
Just after noon, the Roman soldiers on the west side of the fleet were surprised to find that a large group of warships came out from a few miles to the left and rushed towards the Roman fleet at an incredible speed.
The waves rolled ahead of the warships, and their speed was incredible. If it weren't for the statues of Poseidon on the bows, which indicated that they were a Greek fleet, the Roman soldiers would have wondered if they were the divine soldiers of Poseidon!
"Report to the consul quickly! Everyone prepare for battle!" The brave Roman fleet commander issued an order.
But such commanders are only a minority.
Most of the ships did not dare to engage in battle and quickly turned their rudders to avoid the attack.
For a moment, the right wing of the Roman fleet was in chaos.
"The enemy is in disarray without a fight! Opportunity! Ramming ships in the front row, ram them hard! Catapult ships and Greek fire ships on both wings, attack freely once you're within range!"
Seeing the chaos in the Roman fleet, Themistocles, who was commanding the assault fleet, gave orders excitedly.
They chased north at full speed all the way. On the second day, the speed of the boats began to slow down because their oars were not strong enough.
This result was definitely not what Themistocles wanted.
Therefore, he became ruthless and showed the same enthusiasm he had when he fought against the Persian fleet, and planned to launch a surprise attack with elite troops.
After discussing with several key generals, Themistocles' plan was unanimously agreed upon.
Xia Zhe still acted as a hands-off boss and said, "As long as you think it's okay, I won't comment."
The king had no objection, so Themistocles let go completely.
After the meeting, he immediately acted according to the plan, bringing out only 5,000 of the strongest ships and continuing to advance at full speed.
These ships included the first thousand ramming ships.
Fifteen hundred fire-breathing ships and catapults on each wing.
Finally, in the center, there are a thousand supply ships.
Each ramming ship has a huge ram on its bow. It can sink more than a dozen enemy ships of the same tonnage in a row and remain unscathed!
The fire-breathing ship, equipped with Greek fire on both sides and protected by steel plates and a large amount of sea sand, can effectively ensure its own safety while destroying enemy ships.
The catapults were equipped with trebuchets, and the objects they threw were not ordinary stones, but bombs specially made by Archimedes.
With such a perfect combination, the combat effectiveness of the assault fleet is absolutely top-notch!
Themistocles was still worried and insisted that Archimedes, a genius of science, accompany him to provide real-time technical support.
Xia Zhe naturally supported this cautious approach and immediately arranged for Archimedes to join.
Next, the assault fleet of 5,000 ships traveled for another day and finally discovered the Roman fleet ahead in the early morning.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
