Because of the unfavorable handling before, coupled with Da Qin’s arrogant behavior in Xibal City.

Facing Scipio's difficulties, Marcus felt like he was too angry to vent his anger.

Fortunately, Scipio did not care too much about his gains and losses.

After learning the situation from Marcus, he arranged a military operation within ten days of arriving at the southern governor's palace.

At this time, the moon was dark and the wind was fierce.

In the mountains north of Xibal City, a Roman legion of more than 7,000 people quietly came here.

Laelius exposed his upper body and looked at Xibal City, which was only more than thirty miles away from him, with gloomy eyes.

As Scipio's direct lieutenant, he was also a famous warrior in Rome.

However, he is not very satisfied with his current status.

Initially, Scipio sent him and Masinissa to pursue Syphax, a follower of Hannibal.

The two men divided their forces into two routes. They were not lucky enough and did not encounter Syphax on the route they chose.

In the end, Masinissa came out on top.

As a result, Masinissa gained the right to rule Numidia and became the lord of a country.

In the subsequent Battle of Zama, Masinissa led the Numidian cavalry and made many military exploits.

In comparison, Laelius' record is somewhat lackluster.

This time, when using troops against Qin, Laelius held his breath and won the right to fight the first battle with Scipio.

Scipio had promised him that as long as the war goes smoothly and the Qin navy is annihilated, Laelius will be the ruler of the Sibar Peninsula.

Not far from the foot of the mountain are the fortifications built by the Qin Navy.

At this time, the slave camp behind the fortification was completely dark.

It seemed that the slaves, who had worked hard all day, had already rested.

However, Laelius knew that all this was an illusion.

Two-quarters of an hour later, the Roman slaves would set fire to the slave camp and encourage the slaves to escape.

When the time comes, he will lead his legions, rush down the mountain, and kill all the Great Qin Navy's marines stationed in Xibal City.

As Scipio's lieutenant, Laelius was not as mindless as he appeared.

He was fully prepared for this battle.

He knew that the number of the Daqin Marine Corps was not large, less than 10,000.

Those yellow men who were not tall could not possibly be opponents of the brave Roman warriors.

The numerical advantage of Da Qin's army did not pose any threat to itself at all.

At this time, a fire suddenly broke out in the slave camp.

With the help of the wind, the fire quickly burned to ashes.

Viewed from the mountain, the raging fire seemed to dye half of the sky red.

Laelius's spirit was shaken. He raised his huge battle ax, screamed strangely, and ran down the mountain at the head of the horse.

There are seven thousand legions, of which two thousand are auxiliaries recruited from areas affiliated with Rome.

These auxiliary soldiers are civilians with no future in their own country. Many of them voluntarily join the army because they want to gain military exploits and escape their tragic fate.

Therefore, every time there is a war, these people are the most active and brave.

When they almost reached their destination, two thousand auxiliary soldiers were already at the forefront.

They roared and charged into the slave camp holding all kinds of weird weapons.

However, when they entered the camp, they found that the slave camp was empty, with no one left.

After discovering this, Laelius' expression changed.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

He gave orders loudly and whipped his horse wildly, trying to evacuate the slave camp.

However, because it rushed too fast.

Not only the two thousand auxiliary soldiers, but also nearly three thousand regular Roman legionaries had also rushed into the slave camp.

By the time Laelius realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

boom!

boom!

boom!

Continuous explosions sounded from the ground.

All the gunpowder bombs that the Qin army had buried in the camp in advance were detonated.

In an instant, the slave camp covering an area of ​​more than ten miles was completely submerged in a sea of ​​fire.

The Marine Corps ambushing in the southern part of the slave camp, led by Commander Zhou Bo, all rushed forward and killed them.

On the fifth day of April in the second year of Qin II, Rome launched an undeclared war against the Qin navy stationed in Xibar City.

The First Legion under Scipio made a surprise attack on the Marine camp in Sibal City, but was ambushed.

After a night of fierce fighting.

In this battle, the Roman warrior Laelius was killed by the Marine Corps commander Zhou Bo.

His army of 7,000 men was completely wiped out.

However, two complete legions under the control of the Roman Southern Governor's Palace arrived later, making it impossible for Zhou Bo to hold on to his position and could only retreat while fighting.

While Zhou Bo was leading the Marine Corps to fight hard in Xibal City, the battle on the sea had also begun.

At dawn, two Roman naval legions launched a fierce attack on the Qin Navy from the sea.

In this battle, the Roman commander Scipio once again demonstrated his superhuman military abilities.

He used nearly two hundred unmanned sailing ships as bait, which consumed a large amount of gunpowder weapons carried by the Qin Navy.

Subsequently, more than 300 five-row battleships, carrying more than 15,000 Roman soldiers and nearly 6,000 auxiliaries, a total of more than 20,000 troops, rushed towards the battleships of the Great Qin Navy.

This battle was extremely fierce between the two sides.

Obviously, before the war began, Scipio mistakenly underestimated the combat power of the Qin Navy after losing the advantage of gunpowder weapons.

After paying the price of more than two thousand lives, the Roman five-row battleship finally approached the Qin naval battleship.

Using the Crow Suspension Bridge, the Roman Navy dropped nearly 10,000 soldiers onto the Qin Navy warships, and the two sides engaged in the most brutal hand-to-hand combat.

This battle lasted until sunset in the afternoon.

Wang Li, the commander of the Qin navy, was worried about the arrival of Roman reinforcements, so he decisively ordered a retreat despite having a clear advantage.

They picked up the Marines who were still fighting here from the seaport of Sibal City, and then left leisurely from the southern sea.

This battle almost turned the sea surface of the Sibar Peninsula red.

According to post-war statistics, after a day and night of fighting, the five Roman legions participating in the battle suffered a total of nearly 30,000 casualties.

The legions commanded by Laelius were completely annihilated, and the two naval legions lost nearly 20,000 men.

The ones with the fewest casualties were the two regiments from the southern governor's palace.

However, their casualties were entirely due to their inability to work during the battle, rather than how powerful they were.

After the war, Scipio, who had always been a gentle man, ordered the execution of the commanders of the two legions in a rage.

On the surface, Rome seemed to have achieved its strategic purpose in this battle.

They drove away the Qin army entrenched in the Xibar Peninsula and regained control of the Xibar Peninsula.

But anyone with a discerning eye knows that Rome actually lost this battle.

Nearly 60,000 people from five legions participated in the battle, but the Qin Navy killed more than 30,000 people with less than 10,000 casualties.

Moreover, the commander of the Great Qin Navy remained awake throughout this battle.

He didn't like fighting and left immediately after gaining a certain advantage.

This made the two supporting naval legions arranged by Scipio useless at all.

As for Rome regaining the Sibar Peninsula...

It is said that this peninsula was the traditional sphere of influence of Rome. Rome had no advantage in controlling such a subsidiary city-state close to the mainland.

After paying such a high price, you only get back something that belongs to you. What is there to be proud of?

Because of this, Scipio was furious.

Previously, when facing the arrogant Hannibal, he always fought with less to win more.

However, this time more than 60,000 people were mobilized to participate in the battle. They faced the Qin Navy with an absolute advantage and actually lost.
To be continued...