Chapter 899: The Response of the Roman Senate
Looking at Li Jue's receding figure, Zhuge Liang shook his head and said nothing. Since the order was given to move freely, what Li Jue did was not out of line, so let him do it.
"Kong Ming, what should we do next?"
Li Jue, Guo Si and others led their troops away, leaving only Liu Chan, Cao Ang and others with their troops waiting for Zhuge Liang's next instructions.
"Let's go, leave this place to them. We will first go to the Euphrates River to make arrangements and wait for the Roman army to arrive!" Zhuge Liang chuckled.
Let these people fight to the death here, and they will go ahead and ambush on the path of the Roman withdrawal.
As for whether Rome would withdraw, Zhuge Liang had no doubt at all.
Judging from the time, Gigworth V, who is heading south, should be arriving soon. Even if Rome can survive tonight, it will definitely not stay where it is.
The goal of Zhuge Liang and his men was to seize the ferry first and never let Rome garrison along the river again. This tactic worked, but it might not be so useful next time. The empire would never fall for the same tactic twice.
Basically what Zhuge Liang thought was the same. After stabilizing the situation, Ganasis immediately realized that it would be a dead end to hold on and the only way to succeed was to withdraw in an orderly manner.
The Parthian army continued to emerge, and the defense line he temporarily organized could not hold out for too long. But at this point, Ganasis had no intention of holding on.
He knew that these two rivers were basically impossible to defend, and that he was stuck here just to delay time. Since there was no geographical advantage to use, he would retreat before the Parthian troops were fully assembled.
"Gannar, notify them to retreat. The Eagle Flag Legion will follow me to cover their retreat!"
Ganasis decisively chose to let the Barbarian Legion go first, not because he was kind-hearted, but because the Barbarian Legion, which had no morale, was completely unsuitable for covering the rear. If they were really left behind to cover the rear, they might be scattered by a single charge, which would not only fail to achieve the effect of covering the rear, but might also cause a greater collapse.
There are more than one or two examples of large armies fighting and being chased and killed, leading to complete collapse.
The remaining troops must be elite.
"Where to retreat to?" asked the Citizen Corps Commander Ganar.
"Retreat to the Euphrates River. Camillus has already set up a defense line there. You should participate in the defense and recruit young and strong reinforcements. After this battle, we will be even more short of manpower."
Ganasis calmly gave orders to his subordinates. He knew very well that continuing like this would be chronic suicide, as Parthia would continue to bite them, but considering the big picture, they had to do this.
It has to be said that Ganasis's progress is rapid. If the full score of the army's combat effectiveness is 100, Ganasis's command can at least be improved by a few points.
Ganasis kept adjusting the positions of his legions and let the barbarian legion evacuate first.
Then they even seized upon Omzada's mistake and used the Fourth West Asia Archer Legion to deal a heavy blow to Omzada, causing Omzada's legion to be severely damaged and withdraw from the battle in an instant.
"Haha, you want to annex us as well? I'll see if Parthia has such a good temper!" Ganasis sneered as he looked at the Parthian army that was constantly attacking the defense line.
As long as the Eagle Flag Legions advance steadily, there will be no tragedy like the Thirteen Roses. As long as they can hold on for a while longer, they will be able to withdraw directly.
"Trajan, your Iron Cavalry grandfather is here!"
Just as Ganasis was making his plans, a deafening sound of horse hooves was heard. In Ganasis's eyes, a torrent of steel was rushing towards them, and the Parthian army naturally made way for a direction to launch a charge at the other side.
"Retreat!" After seeing the steel torrent in the distance, Ganasis gave the order to retreat without any hesitation and began to retreat directly towards the designated retreat route.
He had known about the Han Dynasty's Xiliang Cavalry for a long time, and had witnessed the entanglement of the Second Trajan River Heavy Cavalry with his own eyes. He didn't think that the defense line he had set up would remain safe if such a force rushed over.
So he immediately issued an order to retreat. Rather than being forced to retreat, it would be easier to withdraw while the enemy was still far away and Parthia had left some space for them.
When Li Jue rushed over, Rome had already slipped away, which made Li Jue very unhappy. What he longed for was an exciting battle, but Rome retreated so easily.
As for chasing, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry has such short legs that it would be difficult for them to catch up.
"The Romans have already retreated?" Zhuge Liang was a little surprised. They had just started not long ago, why did the Romans retreat? If this continued, not to mention seizing the ferry, it would be difficult for them to set up an ambush.
Although there is a speed-type legion talent combination blessed by him, the effect of the blessing is limited because the coverage area is too large, and it is not much faster than the Roman legion.
"It was Li Jue and his army's strength that directly forced the Romans to retreat!" Zhao Yun said with a little helplessness.
Zhuge Liang was speechless. He should have known not to let Li Jue and others mess around. He forgot to consider this point.
However, Rome's retreat was so clean that he thought of something new. Since the other party retreated so cleanly, it meant that they must have made preparations behind the scenes.
Then the original plan will not be very effective. In this case, we should just adapt to local conditions.
"Prepare and form a battle array right here. Since we don't have much time, let's just bite off a piece of meat from them."
Rome's excellent response caused his original plan to fail, but Zhuge Liang was quick-witted and immediately came up with a new implementation plan.
When he came, he had already said hello to Fars Sassanid. Fars Sassanid would never stop, but would chase and kill Rome without giving it a chance to breathe. Then he would occupy the Euphrates River in one fell swoop, drive Rome out of the Mesopotamian region completely, and then counterattack Rome's homeland.
Zhuge Liang deployed the Eight Diagrams on the spot. He planned to make a big move. Since he couldn't achieve his strategic goal, he would weaken the opponent's manpower.
"Fight well, this battle depends on you!"
After finishing all the preparations, Zhuge Liang looked exhausted, and Lu Su next to him looked even paler. Sorting out the cloud energy patterns of the entire army was not a job for a human being at all .
Especially since Zhuge Liang's Eight Diagrams had complicated variations, it was only because Lu Su's level was high enough, otherwise he would have been defeated by an ordinary strategist.
Guan Ping and others were excited. After watching for so long, it was finally their turn to show their skills.
…
As Rome was losing ground, the envoy sent by Ganassus rushed back to Rome and delivered the news to the Roman Senate.
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible. Do you know what you are saying?" The Roman Grand Justice Papinian looked at the messenger in shock, almost thinking that he had heard it wrongly.
The other Roman senators had the same expression. To be honest, although Severus had mentioned the threat of Parthia before, it was assumed that that would happen decades later. It was completely enough for them to send seven Eagle Flag Legions to Parthia, but now they were told that Rome had been defeated.
"The Mesopotamian region will be lost. The Thirteenth Legion will be destroyed and the Eagle Flag will be taken away and chopped into pieces!" He repeated calmly in a bitter tone.
"How is this possible? As Caesar's personal guard, this legion is incredibly tenacious. Even if our Parliamentary Guards take action, we will definitely not be able to completely wipe out the Thirteen Roses, and we can't even gain a complete upper hand. What's more, there are six eagle flags at the side. What happened?"
"That's the Thirteen Roses Legion. That's the heroic legion!"
Papinian almost instantly told the reason why the Thirteen Roses should not be completely destroyed.
"But it's all destroyed! Believe it or not, the Thirteen Roses are destroyed."
"Okay, stop arguing!" Penilence interrupted the argument between the two parties and turned to look at the messenger.
"This is a serious matter. We need to check your memory. I think you have no objection!" Penelence said in a flat tone. During Severus' absence, he was responsible for presiding over the Roman Parliament.
After Severus ascended the throne, he immediately led the three dukes to fight northward without saying a word.
On the one hand, it was to consolidate his position, and on the other hand, it was to undermine the prestige of the three dukes, tie them firmly under his control, and wait for the dust to settle.
Ganasis' attack on Parthia was just one of his moves. By then, when Ganasis had achieved success and fame, he would also be honored as an emperor. Then, the three dukes would no longer have the possibility of rebelling, and his glory would spread throughout Rome.
On the other hand, it was also for the purpose of training troops. Continuous small-scale wars were most suitable for Rome. During the period of civil strife in Rome, Rome was indeed somewhat neglectful of wars.
Therefore, it was Penelunus who was in charge of the work in the city of Rome, which also showed Severus's greatest sincerity in trusting the other party.
And Severus didn't care about these things. He only believed in the military power in his hands. As long as he could disintegrate the three dukes and hold the military power of Rome, politics and parliament would be meaningless to him.
"I will head north immediately tomorrow!"
After checking his memory, Penelence said without hesitation that he would lead the First and Third Eagle Legions and the Roman Senate Guard northward.
To be honest, after hearing the overall situation, Penelence's biggest concern was not Parthia, but Great Britain.
Still the biggest problem of Rome was the problem of barbarians. Most of the troops led by Severus to the north were citizen legions, and they were also Romans in the true sense.
Even if Severus was really recognized by the barbarians, he had no way of betting whether the barbarians recognized him or Great Britain, so the most important thing was to first increase the strength of the Roman citizen legion.
This is also the reason why the real elite troops were not transferred away. Severus wanted to train the newcomers and use the veterans to support them. If he really brought the first and third top legions up, how would the newcomers grow?
But the situation is completely different now, and Severus's troops might have problems.
After the news of Parthia reached Britain, Penelunus could easily guess what would happen. Britain would definitely take advantage of the situation, and Severus' safety would instantly become the biggest hidden danger.
If Severus had died suddenly, Rome would have once again fallen into civil strife and been attacked from both sides, and might have been completely destroyed.
Moreover, although Parthia came with great momentum, Penelunus was well aware that Parthia lacked stamina. This battle was just a siege on them based on stereotypes. Once Rome sent more troops, they would be able to stabilize the situation quickly.
He was well aware of Ganasis's abilities. Since the other party had chosen to delay time and seek help, everything had not yet reached the worst.
The boundless sea of barbarians was destined to trap Parthia near the mountains.
"Go and call out all the imperial guards, half of them will go north with me, and the other half will go to fight Parthia!" Penelence gave orders in an orderly manner.
It’s just that we were beaten by Parthia. What’s the big deal? Just fight back. Blood debt must be repaid with blood.
Because of the existence of the Mediterranean Sea, Rome could move troops to Parthia very quickly, which is also the natural advantage of the Mediterranean Sea.
The advantages of the Mediterranean are so great that they are almost one of the foundations supporting the Roman Empire.
If someone could reach the Mediterranean, Rome would suffer a horrible and fatal blow, because troops could be deployed to any corner of Rome through the Mediterranean.
In this situation, regardless of victory or defeat, Rome would inevitably suffer heavy damage. Even if it repelled the enemy, what would be left behind would be a mess full of holes.
However, Rome had never thought about this issue. After all, since Rome occupied the Mediterranean, except for civil strife, no one has thought about the issue of others occupying the Mediterranean.
Just as everyone was discussing how to send troops and how to organize manpower, the door of the Roman Parliament was kicked open and a large group of people rushed in.
Penelence smiled. This was why he chose to go north. As the vice emperor of Rome, he knew a little more than others.
"I heard that the Thirteen Roses were all destroyed, and the Eagle Emblem was taken away by Parthia?"
The leader Virgilio's face was livid. As the commander of the Tenth Legion, he was also one of the most powerful forces in the Roman Senate.
It’s just that their Tenth Legion has been in a slump for many years, otherwise even the Roman Senate would not have come to see it.
When Severus said he wanted to fight, the Tenth Legion thought of the shadow of Caesar, and Octavian also recognized Severus, so they directly voted for Severus at the Citizens' Assembly.
This was also the last straw that broke the camel's back for the three dukes.
To be honest, there is no connection between the Tenth and Thirteenth Rose Legions. The two legions might have been as close as brothers in the past, but as time has passed, they have long lost any relationship.
After Octavian woke up, the Tenth Legion reluctantly regarded the Thirteenth Legion as their own. Even though she was a slut, she was indeed one of their own.
After all, Octavian was Caesar's nephew and the founder of the Roman Empire, so they were more or less giving him face by making him the tenth.
"I demand the Tenth Legion go to Parthia!" Virgilio shouted loudly.
Penilence nodded. This was exactly what he had been waiting for.
