Chapter 908: Conflict and Peace Talks
"There is nothing Rome can do. Great Britain behind them should have an offensive and defensive agreement with Parthia. Fighting on two fronts always requires some compromises." Sun Quan retorted and pointed out Rome's dilemma.
"Great Britain in the north!" Li Jiancheng thought for a moment, "It's probably because the north is in danger, otherwise they wouldn't retreat like this."
"It shouldn't be that urgent. Ma Mengqi once said that Great Britain's national strength is not weak, but it is obviously inferior to Rome." Cao Ang shook his head and retorted.
"That's true. Ganasis once said that of the 33 Roman Eagle Legions, including the 13 Rose Legions that were annihilated, only seven are currently here, less than a quarter!"
"Even if they want to mobilize troops, they can't do so from here. There may be some hidden secrets we don't know about."
Li Shimin nodded in agreement with Cao Ang's statement. He and Li Jiancheng had met Ganasis and had a vague understanding of Rome.
"Could it be a trick?" Sun Quan hesitated for a moment. "Hongmen Banquet?"
Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng and others also fell silent. They really could not understand the Romans' thoughts. Unless there were major problems, the Han Dynasty would never give up such fertile land, and it was not impossible to fight to the end for it.
"When the time comes, be ready and wait for my signal. This time, it will be me and the three generals who will go. If any problems arise, you must withdraw immediately, just in case!"
Zhuge Liang actually didn't quite understand it, but he still made the decision.
As a commander, sometimes it is more meaningful to make decisions quickly than to think too much, and Zhuge Liang is now gradually figuring out what to do in his position.
After Zhuge Liang made the decision, others stopped worrying and began to think in the same direction, making estimates of many possible things that might happen.
On the other side, Parthia also received the notice from Rome. Vogelius V was a little hesitant, but considering the current logistical problems of Parthia and the strength of the Romans, he decided to quit while he was ahead.
This great victory was more than enough for him to completely integrate Parthia into his own empire. With the record of a great victory over Rome, any resistance force would be ruthlessly crushed by him.
It is obvious that Vogyps V's mind has not been carried away by victory. Although he has achieved the most brilliant achievement in nearly a hundred years, he is still thinking about how to improve the overall strength of the Parthian Empire.
"Rome wants to negotiate peace, that's fine. I just need time. The Xiongnu's legacy and the Han Dynasty's assistance all require time to carefully balance."
Voggis V took a deep breath and suppressed the throbbing in his heart.
Everything takes time, and these things need to be done step by step, but what he lacks most is time.
The size of Rome is now larger than that of Parthia. If they do not take advantage of the fact that Rome has just restored its unification to attack Rome, they will never be able to surpass Rome in terms of development alone, even with the trade between the Han Dynasty and Great Britain.
This is also the reason why he was anxious to launch a large-scale war after hearing about the emergence of a new Roman emperor.
To put it bluntly, wars between countries are a test of national strength.
It is necessary to find ways to weaken the enemy while ensuring one's own development, and war is the simplest and most brutal way to do this.
The facts proved this to be the case. Not only did they recover the Mesopotamian region, but they also plundered the eastern provinces of Rome.
As a result, Parthia made a lot of money and Rome suffered a lot of losses.
The talks went on as scheduled.
Ganasis, with four realm-breaking and twenty or so internal energy-leaving bodies, was waiting for the arrival of the Han Dynasty and Parthia at the place of peace talks.
Caracalla wanted to come, but Ganasis didn't dare to bring him along. If something really happened, it would be troublesome. Caracalla would just have to help him share the blame.
Peace talks are talks, but Ganasis didn't think it would be so easy to sign an armistice agreement.
"It's full of gunpowder!" Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan and walked confidently towards the meeting place.
With three great generals, Zhao Yun, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, by his side, he was not afraid of any threats.
"What courage!" Ganasis looked at Zhuge Liang and the other three who were not frightened by their lineup at all and walked into the meeting room simply.
This kind of self-confidence is enough to reflect the powerful profile of the Han Empire.
"Ganasis, the Duke of the Eastern Border County of Rome, greets all the Han people!" Ganasis bowed cautiously.
"I am Zhuge Liang, Marquis of Duting, the Han Empire. Nice to meet you Romans!" Zhuge Liang responded politely upon hearing this.
It is said that Zhuge Liang earned this title of marquis during the war against the Northern Huns. Although his status has gradually risen, there has been no progress in his title of marquis.
"Everyone, please come in!"
Ganasis made a gesture of invitation and sent two boundary-breaking demigods to lead the way.
Although they are now enemies, there are only four Han soldiers and they don't even bring any extra guards. This kind of heroic spirit is exactly what Rome appreciates the most.
Although Ganasis wanted to make trouble at this kind of meeting, the confidence and magnanimity of the Han Dynasty made Ganasis give up some of his little ideas.
The other party has so much faith in Rome's magnanimity, so they, Rome, must not lose face.
"Hmph, get ready!"
What a coincidence, someone from Parthia also came at this time, and that person was Fars Sassanian. It was naturally impossible for Vogyses V to come in person to such a meeting, unless Severus came in person, otherwise Fars Sassanian's status was just equal to that of Ganassus.
Seeing Parthia coming with thousands of troops from afar, Ganasis couldn't help but sneer.
Look, look, this is the difference. The Han Dynasty only needs a few people to come, but who are Parthia trying to scare with so many people?
Although it is no longer the weakling Anxi it once was, a poor country like Parthia can only have this kind of magnanimity.
But Parthia was not a villain. After all, it was an empire and it still had some basic magnanimity.
They reined in their horses at a distance and then stopped in unison.
Then Fars Sassanid broke away from the formation with a dozen cavalrymen.
"O Fars Sassan!"
A sneer flashed across Ganasis' face. Although he knew that the other party was the Parthian commander, he still felt very unhappy when he saw him with his own eyes. Why didn't he kill this guy back then?
"Ganasis!"
Fars Sassan looked at Ganasis, his eyes were a little red, but he remained calm.
The former Fars Sassanid would definitely not be able to hold back, but Fars is different after winning a great victory. He can now face Rome with a very rational attitude.
Uncontrollable anger is often caused by being powerless. Now the situation is different, and Fars has naturally calmed down a lot.
Compared with the harmony between the Han Dynasty and Rome, the relationship between Rome and Parthia was obviously full of tension.
Originally, Ganasis wanted to give Fars a warning, but Georgos sent a message to Ganasis to stop him.
"Parthia has sent several experts. Without Ludovico and the other two, we can't suppress Parthia!"
Ganasis frowned, as so many experts emerged from Parthia.
The only person who can be called a master by Georgos is a demigod who has broken through the realm.
Ganasis had no choice but to give up his show of force. After all, they wanted to negotiate, and a falling out would not benefit anyone.
"Why don't you give it a try?"
Fars Sassan looked at Ganasis with a sneer. We are all thousand-year-old foxes, why play Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio?
In the past, even if Ardashir achieved breaking the boundary, there was only one of him after all, and Parthia might really suffer. But things are different now.
They, Parthia, are not short of demigods who have broken through the realm. Although he is deeply suspicious about the origins of these masters, they are indeed working for them, Parthia.
"Then let's give it a try!" Ganasis said immediately, not losing the battle.
The Roman guardians immediately glared and released their aura to press Parthia. Parthia was not afraid at all and also released their aura to press back. The two sides, with a total of more than 30 people with internal energy leaving their bodies, stood in front of the entrance of the venue, ready to fight.
Ludovic and Gulas rushed out directly from the meeting place and also joined in the momentum confrontation.
But suddenly, Georgos's face changed, he stood in front of Ganasis, groaned, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Behind Fars Sassan, a man holding Buddhist beads in his hand smiled faintly.
They didn't really intend to take action; it was just some small tricks, just to embarrass Ganasis. The Duke of Border County would kneel down in front of Parthia with weak legs, which would surely make the Roman side lose face.
If Giorgios hadn't been taking the blame for someone else, he wouldn't have bled. But for Pojie, it wasn't even an injury, just a loss of face.
The Parthians are fearless. The worst outcome is just a fight. What can they do? Are they afraid? They are now the active party.
They finally got the upper hand, and if they don't humiliate Rome, they will regret it for the rest of their lives.
Anyway, Vogels V made it very clear that no matter how Rome negotiated, it was estimated that Rome would not give anything. At that time, Parthia would retreat anyway, so it would be better to humiliate Rome.
If Rome has the guts to chase them out, then we will fight. Anyway, the hatred is as deep as the sea, so we are not afraid of adding a little more hatred.
"Fals, are you sure you want to do it!"
Ganasis stared at Fars and said coldly without any fear, Rome was not afraid of war either.
"Stop it all!"
Fars Sassanid still stopped it, thinking that he should still maintain some dignity. If it was only Parthia and Rome, then there would be a commotion.
But there is a third party, the Han Dynasty, so they have to save their face. What's more important is that peace talks are indeed beneficial to both sides.
The goal of humiliating Rome has been achieved, so it's time to get down to business.
Upon hearing this, Ganasis stopped the Romans, sneered twice, turned around and strode inside, while the Parthian people also followed in with a sneer.
After both parties went in, they found Zhuge Liang and his four companions were drinking tea as if nothing had happened.
"Both sides should calm down. After all, the fact that you're here means you're willing to negotiate. There's no need to make the relationship so tense." Zhuge Liang said calmly.
The people of Parthia and Rome sneered. They had never seen the Han Dynasty and the Huns sit together peacefully, so how could they have the nerve to say such things.
But it was more of a step up. Both sides sneered in their hearts, but still agreed on the surface.
This is also the meaning of the existence of the Han Dynasty, a third party, a medium of negotiation.
It was obvious that the two sides could not reach an agreement in the subsequent peace talks, or it could be said that both sides had no intention of talking at all. They were both frantically poking at each other's spines and digging up old scores and exposing each other's scars.
But the funny thing is that neither side really wants to fight.
Zhuge Liang saw what Rome meant, which was that they were unwilling to accept defeat. However, their strength was not enough this time, and Great Britain to the north was also fighting, so they could only maintain a stalemate. However, the stalemate was too draining of national strength, so it was better to stop and negotiate peace.
After all, war preparedness and peacetime development are two completely different things.
Parthia seemed to have the same idea, planning to digest it first and then readjust the plan.
After all, they themselves didn't expect that they could fight so far.
It seems that both sides intend to integrate their domestic strength and adjust their strategic layout in a planned manner. After concentrating their strength for a period of time, they will fight back in one go.
Zhuge Liang had no feelings at all about the meaningless peace talks between the two sides. Wasn't it the same between them and the Huns, fighting on and off, and then fighting to the death.
It was not until the battle in the northern border that the Huns were completely defeated and even the souls of the army were devoured by them.
"Hello, Lord Duting!"
After a long period of completely insincere bickering between the two sides, Rome began to shift its attention to the Han army.
After all, the Han army had caused them considerable trouble, and they were somewhat surprised that the Han Dynasty joined the war.
"Hello!" Zhuge Liang saluted in response, and the other party also returned the salute.
"I am Roman Novelli. We in Rome are very confused. Why would the Han Dynasty want to participate in a meaningless war? Such a war cannot bring you any benefits."
Novelli's voice was not loud, but everyone present fell silent.
"Hehe, it's just for the purpose of training young people. Why don't you guess how old I am this year!" Zhuge Liang said with a faint smile.
To be honest, Rome and Parthia twitched their lips when they heard this. The quality of this batch of people from the Han Dynasty was not weak. They were actually here to train young people. Isn't it a loss because of their wealth and power?
Even Fars Sassan, who had known about this for a long time, twitched his lips. Parthia couldn't afford an extra three-talent legion to babysit a group of young people.
"Experience on the imperial battlefield?" Ganasis was stunned.
"Of course, Your Excellency the Duke. Brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin asked me to say hello to you. They have personally come to see the world you described. You really did not deceive them!"
Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, then said to Ganasis.
"..." Ganasis was silent, recalling the Li brothers he saw at the beginning. There were few young people in Rome who could compare with them.
The opponent's potential is terrifying, but what he lacks is experience. Now he has begun to gain experience on the battlefield, and has he personally participated in the imperial battlefield?
However, Ganasis withdrew his gaze and focused on Zhuge Liang. He didn't know how far the Li brothers would go. A genius who did not grow up is just a genius.
Zhuge Liang in front of him was obviously about the same age, but he could no longer be ignored.
