Sicily is similar to an inverted triangle. The Strait of Messina is composed of a cape extending from the upper right corner of this triangle and an Apennine Peninsula. The terrain of the entire Sicily is high in the east and low in the west. Mountains, hills and plains each account for one-third. The mountains are mostly concentrated at this corner where the Strait of Messina is located.

So when Feng Yu's army came to the beach on the other side through the pontoon bridge, the mountains and ridges came towards him. Fortunately, Feng Yu did not intend to pass through this mountainous area and enter the heart of Sicily - the center of the triangle, but followed the upper side of the triangle, that is, the northern coastline of Sicily, to the westward Palermo.

Shortly after Feng Yu's main force left the beach where the floating bridge was located, several people hidden in the bushes on the top of a nearby hill poked their heads out, looking to the beach at the foot of the mountain while pointing their fingers.

The leader of these people was Spartacus, the second leader of the slave rebel army. He was a slave since he was a child and did not know who his parents were. After the uproar, he no longer used the old name given by the Roman slave owner. Because he was a Thracian, he used the name Spartacus, a slave leader who was also a Thracian hundreds of years ago. The situation of the great leader Hannibal was similar to that of him, and he also used the name of Hannibal, a famous general of the Phoenician tribe.

A close confidant beside Spartacus said happily: "General, look, their troops are actually much less than we imagined. Your plan will definitely work in one fell swoop!"

Spartacus nodded with joy, pondered for a few more breaths before saying, "Transfer our military orders and let the leaders of the generals of each department act as planned!"

Three days ago, the leaders of the slave rebel army were preparing to switch to the Apennine Peninsula. Spartacus followed Hannibal's instructions and prepared to fight the front station and cross the Messina Strait first. Unexpectedly, Feng Yu's army broke out halfway and stood firmly on the other side of the strait. Spartacus not only failed to cross the strait, but also lost his troops. This made him very upset.

Later, he saw Feng Yu's main forces in the water and land arrived, so he did not dare to confront the opponent head-on. He planned to turn attack into defense and prevent the opponent from landing on Sicily. However, when he saw Feng Yu's army also built a floating bridge in the Messina Strait, a bold idea emerged from his heart - that was to simply let the opponent's troops come over, and then when the opponent's main force left and approached the hinterland of Sicily, the army that was ambushing in the valley rushed out and seized the opponent's floating bridge in one fell swoop. In this way, he not only opened the passage to the Apennine Peninsula, but also cut off the main force of the enemy's return, making it an isolated army, and eventually he would collapse without fighting.

So he asked his troops to hide into the valley first, attracting them without delay, waiting for the arrival of the fighter plane. Now he saw that Feng Yu actually chose to march along the coast, and he was even more happy. You should know that the road on the coast looks flat, but it is a natural pocket. According to the mountain shape, there are sections of more than 200 miles long, which are full of cliffs on one side and the sea on the other side. Therefore, you can only move forward or retreat from this road, and there is no pass through the mountain to get out.

He thought that if he could block the enemy's head and tail, the other side would have mountains on the left and sea on the right, and there would be turtles in the jar of enemy soldiers in front and back. If he didn't believe it, he would not be able to annihilate them.

Spartacus made up his mind and sent a messenger to Hannibal, who was still stationed in Palermo, asking him to lead his troops to block the front of the cliff coast trail in advance. Then, Spartacus raised his hand into the air and said, "Transfer our orders and the whole army attacks. Be sure to take down the enemy's pontoon bridge in the shortest time!" With his orders issued, the horns of the rebels began to whimper between the valleys and woods...

Almost at the same time, on the north bank of Sicily, dozens of miles away, Feng Yu, who was leading his troops, suddenly grabbed the reins of the war horse and said, "Tell me the order, the whole army will stop advancing!" Dian Qing beside him was very puzzled by Feng Yu's decision, but he still asked the orders to send military orders to various departments.

After the large group of people, which stretched for five or six miles, stopped, Feng Yu issued a loud military order and said: "Send the order, the rear army of the entire army will become the front army, the front army will become the rear army, and the rear army will be marched quickly to our position!"

Dian Qing could no longer help saying: "Lord, let's give up our original plan and not regain Palermo along the coast?"

Feng Yu smiled slightly and said, "Of course not. But I expected that the previous enemy troops would be ambushed in the mountains and forests near Messina. Once our main force left, they would go out to seize our floating bridge and cut off our retreat."

Simmons on the other side also asked: "How did the general predict this."

Feng Yu replied calmly: "I am not 100% sure they will do this, but I think if it were me, I would definitely do this. We suddenly kill the troops back, which will probably take about a day or so. But it doesn't matter. The rebels still don't have time to adjust their defense and deployment after so many more days. But if I guessed it right, we can beat them once. The proportion of this risk and interest is clear at a glance, so we have to have dates or no dates, and we will fight one first."

After Feng Yu finished speaking, six or seven thousand infantry and cavalry had turned around and ran towards the same path.

On the Messina beach, Feng Yu's soldiers held individual crossbows, lying or squatting behind small sand dunes or low sand walls that were piled up. Their lower edge was inserted into the sand with two pointed legs, and a folded shelf behind the shield was opened to support it on the ground.

In front of them, shouts erupted from the towering mountains and fields. The dense rebel slave soldiers emerged from various valleys, ravines and dense forests and appeared on a flat beach less than two miles wide.

Douglas also squatted behind the sand-wall shield at the forefront, staring at the whistling enemy troops without blinking. The defense line he deployed looked messy, but it was roughly a crescent-shaped body to guard the beach where the pontoon bridge head was located behind them.

This formation was not original to Douglas, but was taught by Feng Yu. Because Feng Yu's main combat weapon, the individual crossbow, was a quasi-range weapon, their tactical ideas have begun to break away from the limitations of the cold weapon era.

The slave rebels were getting closer and closer to Feng Yu's position. After more than a hundred steps, the arrows shot by the scorpion crossbow began to fly in one after another. At fifty steps, many people had raised the javelin over their shoulders and prepared to shoot. Even Bu Shaoren couldn't wait to throw the javelin out. With a slight muffled sound, a javelin hit the shield in front of Douglas, but because the distance was too far, the power was lost, and he did not penetrate the shield. Douglas still squatted there indifferently...
Chapter completed!