(The second update has arrived. The heroes have appeared one by one. Please keep up with your monthly tickets, comrades!)

The stage for national hegemony.

It's always you who sings and I come on stage. The only difference is the length of time the singing takes.

In the 4th century BC, the brilliant Greek civilization declined, and the Odyssey heroes in Homer's epic were lost in the long river of history one by one. Carthage suddenly dominated the Mediterranean area. Their merchant ships sailed along the

Sailing along the African coastline, the dhows were loaded with gold, silver and other precious metals, luxury animal skins, wine and olive oil.

There is no doubt that the first golden age of the Age of Sail belonged to the Carthaginians. The Greeks' civilization was limited to the Aegean Sea, while the Carthaginians owned the entire Mediterranean.

In the first half of the 3rd century BC, the city of Carthage was dotted with handicraft workshops. In the Bagladas Valley in the interior of Africa, the land was fertile and could provide the Carthaginians with sufficient food. Each slave

The emergence of the manor made the Carthage civilization a pearl in the history of Western civilization. However, with the rise of the Romans, the Carthage civilization also began to decline from prosperity.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. The Second Punic War has not completely destroyed the foundation of Carthage. They still have a fleet that travels across the Mediterranean. In addition, Carthage can also plunder the Black Sea in central and southern Africa.

slaves and sell them to other places to gain huge profits.

With so many unique conditions, Hannibal, the Carthaginian hero who swore an oath of no compromise with Rome, was of course unwilling to be suppressed by the Romans. He wanted to make a comeback and avoid the humiliation of being defeated by Fabian and Scipio.

, and to achieve this goal, Hannibal knew that it was obviously impossible to rely on the power of Carthage alone.

Not only was there a gap between the national strength of Carthage and Rome, but also because the nobles in Carthage were greedy for the little favors given by the Romans. They gave up their national freedom. They gave up their ideals and were willing to be the Romans.

running dog.

"Go and tell those in the Senate that a powerful enemy of the Romans has appeared. We must seize this opportunity to promote an alliance with the Easterners. We should rely on the power of the Qin State to rob the Romans of our land and return the money.

There are slaves, take them all back." Hannibal shouted loudly with a ferocious expression.

"Subordinate, I will report back immediately." The hunchbacked messenger was so frightened that he stepped back and responded repeatedly.

Who should he look for as an ally? During this period of house arrest, Hannibal had been studying the history of various countries in the world, especially those neighboring countries around the Mediterranean that could pose a threat to the Romans. He once had hope for the Macedonians, but

Whether it was Philip IV, Ptolemy V, or Antiochus III, they all made him feel untrustworthy.

Just when he was hesitant and disappointed, news about the powerful Eastern country Qin suddenly came. The Qin army from the far east had traveled more than 3,000 miles from the east coast of Asia to the east coast of the Mediterranean. And here

Along the way, both Anxi and Seliusi became a number on the Qin army's short list of achievements.

If it was just like this, Hannibal was just curious at best, but later, the Qin people actually settled down in western Asia, and batches of Qin people migrated from the east. They worked hard to open up foreign territories,

They set out to rule this vast land for a long time.

If the Qin people really wanted to expand on the east coast of the Mediterranean, they would inevitably clash with the Romans, and the enemy of the enemy was a friend. When Hannibal thought of this, a rare look of joy and excitement appeared on his face.

United with Qin and fighting against Rome.

This was the only way Hannibal found to revive Carthage. He had to act quickly and take advantage of Qin's strength to provoke the anger of the Qin people and the Romans. Only by fishing in troubled waters would the Carthaginians have a chance.

——.

On the banks of the Nile.

Li Yuan was leading an army at war with the Ptolemaic dynasty's army, and he was unaware of the good intentions of Carthage, another country in western Africa.

After the Qin army entered Egypt, it made smooth progress at first. Many cities along the way were captured. The Qin army's swift and violent movements caused the unprepared Egyptian army to fail repeatedly. However, then, Ptolemy V began to concentrate the scattered troops.

When they arrived at several key cities such as Alexandria, it became difficult for the Qin army to attack.

Egyptian cities.

Unlike northern Europe, the Egyptians liked to use huge stones to pile up pyramids. These pyramids were mainly the burial places of pharaohs in later generations. Many of them gradually disappeared in the long history of history, and when Li Yuan arrived

In this era, the various pyramids provided the Egyptians with shelter.

In addition to the stone tower, the war elephant army proposed by Cleopatra was also summoned to the battlefield by the Egyptians. There were nearly 700 such war elephants in the Ptolemaic army, and each elephant had a

There were three or four Ptolemaic soldiers either holding spears or holding arrows. They were standing high, like moving fortresses, which made it difficult for people to guard against.

The Qin army lacked experience in dealing with this type of force that they had never seen before. Li Yuan hurriedly summoned Li Zhongxiang and other generals and thought of many ways. Among them, fire attack to defeat the enemy, sky thunder to frighten the elephant and other tactics were also proposed.

However, difficulties were encountered in the specific implementation.

The frightened Egyptians defended the city. Their war elephants were mainly responsible for intercepting the Qin Army's vanguard when the Qin Army fell into the city. In a narrow area, protected by Egyptian soldiers, the Qin Army's sky mines could be accurately thrown.

The chance of getting near the elephant is low. Under this unfavorable situation, the Qin army can only remove the Egyptian nails one by one. Fortunately, the generals of the Ptolemaic Kingdom are as military-minded as their emperor.

Their talents are mediocre, and no one can lead an army and be good at fighting.

Early April.

After more than a month of dramatic fighting, the Qin army finally cleared the Egyptian army in the upper and middle reaches of the Nile River, and the fighting began to focus on Alexandria in the downstream delta area.

At this time, there were still 60,000 Egyptian troops defending Alexander. These soldiers were the elite troops of Ptolemy V. They relied on the favorable conditions of the port for supplies and did not have to worry about being besieged by the Qin army for a long time. On the contrary, the Qin army

Because the front was too long, even transporting the baggage from the nearest Jerusalem would take more than twenty days, not including the losses on the road.

The navy of the Qin Dynasty was still training at the port of Troy. The soldiers of the Qin army who lacked actual combat still needed arduous training before they could board the battlefield of naval battles.

And if the port could not be blocked, Ptolemy V could wait for the arrival of Roman reinforcements without any worries. This would be a bad result for the Qin army on the expedition.

In the city of Cairo.

The Qin army was at a loss.

At this time, a caravan from Carthage came all the way along the north coast of Africa. They not only brought furs, rum and other items traded with Qin, but also brought an important person -

—Hannibal Barca.

After receiving the news from Qin, Hannibal could no longer hold it in. While under house arrest, he immediately summoned his old troops. It happened that the Carthaginian nobles had recently been resentful of the heavy taxes imposed by Rome. The two forces multiplied into one.

Although Hannibal could not immediately restore the power of the administrator, he still had freedom.

After successfully lobbying the Carthage Senate, Hannibal volunteered and followed the caravan all the way east, trying to go to the Mesopotamia to find the Qin army. After arriving in Egypt, Hannibal was overjoyed.

The Qin army is aggressively attacking the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and the commander leading this Qin army is Li Yuan, the Shenwu Emperor of Qin.

There was nothing more exciting for Hannibal than meeting the leader of the Qin army directly. Along the way, his mind was full of ideas on how to persuade Li Yuan. When he saw the Qin army trapped in Alexandria, Hannibal

Nibal's confidence increased even more.

The Qin army's station.

Li Yuan met with the man who was said to be the Carthage envoy.

"I heard that Carthage and Rome once fought in the Cannae area. It was you Carthaginians who won the victory. I wonder if you can tell me in detail?" Li Yuan asked. Hannibal's name, he naturally

It was like thunder, but Li Yuan was not sure whether the thin man in his fifties before him was the legendary Western God of War.

When Hannibal heard this, his expression perked up and he smiled proudly: "Your Majesty also knows about the Battle of Cannae? The commander of Carthage is none other than myself. No one knows the details of this battle better than me.

"

Li Yuan's information about the Battle of Cannae came more from historical records of later generations, which was only a description of a hundred or so words. However, Hannibal, an eyewitness, explained all aspects of the cause and effect, including the beginning of the battle.

The comparison of the strength of the two sides, the distribution of troops and the choice of terrain, these complex battlefield intelligence were presented one by one, which made Li Yuan couldn't help but praise Hannibal greatly.

With the Romans largely dominant, Hannibal unexpectedly crossed the Alps and captured Cannae, the Roman granary. Subsequently, the 50,000 Carthaginian expeditionary force and as many as 80,000 Roman troops launched a battle.

Fighting to the death, with fewer troops than the opponent

With Hannibal's hand, Hannibal positioned himself in the lee of the wind and used the famous half-moon defensive formation to defend the weak front and achieve breakthroughs on both wings of the Romans. Varro's 80,000 Roman troops and 70,000 died, while the Carthaginian side

Only less than 6,000 people were lost.

The Battle of Cannae was Hannibal's most proud battle. Hearing Li Yuan's question, Hannibal felt as if he had been scratched. He made no reservations about how to plan, how to layout and how to design for Roman command.

The process of the official being tricked was narrated one by one. His analysis also convinced Li Yuan that the somewhat down-and-out man in front of him was the hero of Carthage and the great general in Western military history - Hannibal. (Unfinished)
Chapter completed!