The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 355
Seeing Quintus and Bodiao glaring at each other, Sun Shao smelled a strong smell of gunpowder.As soon as he sat down, before he had time to drink his saliva, Quintus couldn't help but began to accuse the Guishuang people of treachery, and Mennolufis was even more furious, pointing out that the Guishuang people were dishonest, which caused him to lose nearly Thousands of people, the victory at your fingertips was lost in a blink of an eye.Bo Tiao dismissively, so many of you can't win, how many people do I have?I can't move anymore, what's wrong with taking a break?You can't sleep because the pillow is crooked.

Mennolufis was furious, he drew his sword and rushed forward to fight Bodiao desperately.The Guishuang people were not vegetarians either, they rushed forward and grabbed Menolufis and started fighting. Sun Shao was stunned, and the gang had already started a fight.

"Fuck!" Sun Shao was furious, stood up, kicked the table flying, the table flew a few steps, and hit the people who were fighting with a "boom", scaring them to retreat quickly Take a few steps.Sun Shao pointed at Quintus, then at Bodiao, and shouted angrily: "It's a shame that one of you is the emperor of Rome and the other is the king of Guishuang, and you just look at your subordinates like ruffians on the street? You don't think it's embarrassing, I It’s too embarrassing. If you want to fight, don’t ask me to fight in my camp. This is the majestic king’s tent, not a place for you to fight group battles.”

Seeing that Sun Shao got angry, neither the Romans nor the Guishuang people dared to be presumptuous. Quintus and Bodiao were a little embarrassed, but neither of them dared to retreat first. They each snorted and turned their heads away. ignore anyone.

"Tu Hu, bring a hundred warriors here, whoever dares to be presumptuous, I'll drag them all out and chop them up." Sun Shao said another harsh word, Tu Hu didn't say a word, and with a slam, he led the people to kill him. The big tent heard about it, and he and Sun Feng stood behind Sun Shao, one on the left and the other on the right, looking at the Guishuang people and the Romans with glaring eyes.Seeing this posture, the Guishuang people and the Romans all panicked. Sun Shao really planned to kill them all, right?

"Well, why don't you back down?" Quintus winked at Mennolufis, who had a blue nose and swollen eyes, "I believe His Highness King Yue will give us a fair verdict."

"Hmph!" Botiao snorted guiltily, staring straight at Sun Shao, fearing that he would be sidelined and it would be bad for him.

Ao Lei led people to quickly rearrange the table, Sun Shao sat down again, drank two sips of freshly brewed tea, then waved his hand and said: "How many times have I told you that peace is the most important thing, peace is the most important thing, You all think I'm farting, don't you? There is only [-] defenders in the ancient city of Seleu, and now you have a total of [-] troops besieging it. In the ears of Ardashir, you think you have face, don’t you? You can’t even win Seleucus, why are you attacking Ctesiphon? Let’s just break up.”

Quintus coughed and said complainingly: "We have been attacking the city with all our strength these past few days. More than a dozen legions have taken turns to fight, causing a lot of casualties. Mennolufis is progressing the most smoothly today, and three siege engines are approaching at once. We got on the city wall and were about to attack the top of the city, but just because they withdrew suddenly, the Sassanids came to support them, interrupted the bridge ladder, and frustrated our attack. We watched more than 100 heroic soldiers They were outnumbered and died tragically at the hands of the Sassanids. Your Highness, do you think I am angry or not? We agreed to cooperate, how could they withdraw at this time? If he had made a strong attack and attracted the Sassanids, We're sitting in town talking now."

"Fart!" Bodiao cursed a foul word, and retorted unconvinced: "You are the Sasanian who interrupted your bridge and ladder, and the person who interrupted your bridge and ladder rushed over from my side? If people can rush over, the log will also be carried over. ? They clearly prepared for it a long time ago, deliberately let you climb the city wall, thinking that they were going to break the city, and then cut off your retreat. They didn't even see this, have you ever fought?"

Quintus blushed, of course he also suspected this possibility, but he still couldn't help getting angry after being belittled by Bo Tiao in front of so many people.He stood up and was about to speak when Sun Shao stopped him and motioned him to be calm.Quintus was puzzled, but he didn't want to lose face to Sun Shao, so he sat down angrily.

"How about the loss of the king's siege?" Sun Shao asked with concern: "You don't have many troops in the first place. If the loss is too large, it will not be a good thing."

When Bodiao saw that Sun Shao was concerned about his battle situation, he was in a good mood, and quickly said: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. During the three-day attack on the city, we also lost more than 2000 people and injured more than 3000. It's just that the Sassanids guarded too tightly. We hit the top of the city several times and were driven down."

"You are also like this?" Sun Shao turned his head and said to Quintus.Quintus nodded. The situation of the Romans' siege was similar to that of the Guishan people. They could not hold the top of the city. Today's situation is not the first time. "On the first day, the most people were lost in filling the city, about 3000 people. In the past two days, a lot of people died in the siege. The total number is more than 6000. Counting the injured, it should be close to [-] people."

"According to this, the Sasanians are indeed very well prepared. It is not ruled out that they may lure you to the city and then kill a large number of people." Sun Shao pondered for a moment, and then he was a little surprised: "But you have a total of eighteen legions , why only send one legion forward to attack?"

Quintus frowned and said nothing.The two most elite legions of the Romans are in the hands of young Gordian. He does not take the initiative to call for battle, and Quintus does not intend to use him now. The legion commander had the opportunity to exercise. For this reason, he didn't even send seven barbarian legions.After these two days of fighting, those legion commanders who used to only know how to talk in the Senate have seen the cruelty of war, but they also suffered a lot of losses.

"We don't have enough bows and crossbows, and there are too many people, so we can only become the target of the Sassanians." Little Gordian interjected, and said calmly: "Besides, most of the soldiers have never been on the battlefield, and they have never attacked. With city experience, it’s not easy to be able to beat like this.”

"Is there an agreement between you?" Sun Shao thought for a moment, and then asked: "For example, everyone will fight together and echo each other."

Quintus and Bodiao shook their heads.

"You guys..." Sun Shao sighed: "Since we are allies and attacked the city together, why didn't we make an agreement in advance? In today's situation, if you inform King Guishuang to step up his attack, you won't be like this what."

Quintus curled his lips, he didn't believe that Bo Tiao would be so kind, I'm afraid he would retreat even faster then.But Bo Tiao grasped the reason and echoed repeatedly, accusing Quintus of not notifying him in time, it was all Quintus' responsibility.Quintus was too angry to speak, so he turned his head and remained silent.

Sun Shao stopped the tone: "Let's not talk about the previous things, let's think about how to deal with the latter things. Seleucus is just a place to practice hands. If you can't win it smoothly and the time is too long, yes The attack behind us is very disadvantageous. If you still want to capture Ctesiphon, you must unite and act in a unified manner from now on, and you must not give the Sassanians any chance to take advantage of the loopholes. Only in this way can you take Seleucus as soon as possible and encourage Morale. Otherwise, it is better to negotiate with Ardashir as soon as possible and stop here."

Hearing Sun Shao's words, both Romans and Guishuang people could hear Sun Shao's intention to retreat. Little Gordian frowned and stepped forward: "My lord, my Roman army responded to the call of the king and marched thousands of miles away." You came all the way here just to conquer Taixifeng, how could your majesty give up just because of a slight setback right now? This is not good for our morale."

Sun Shao narrowed his eyes, glanced at little Gordian, thoughtfully: "You suggest to continue fighting?"

"Of course." Little Gordian nodded without thinking, and a smile flashed across his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Sun Shaoyang raised his head and looked at him calmly, but secretly sneered in his heart.Old Gordian has gone back to Rome, leaving his son here to watch the jokes. He doesn’t want Quintus to go back like this. He definitely wants to continue the fight. When Quintus loses his troops and loses his generals, he can’t fight anymore. Then he will talk about retreating. , At that time, Quintus' prestige will be completely destroyed.

"I'm just a legion commander, so I can't answer the king's question." Little Gordian shook his head and said calmly, "This question should be answered by the king and our emperor."

Quintus was embarrassed, and glared at little Gordian angrily.Little Gordian pretended not to see him, returned to his seat and sat down easily.Sun Shao saw it, smiled silently, waved his hand and said: "General Gordian is right, this is a matter between our three kings, everyone else should go back and rest first, and wait for the order to wait." yes."

When all the generals heard this, they all looked at each other in blank dismay. They didn't expect Sun Shao to drive people away so directly.But it was the little Gordian who said this first, no wonder they didn't give face, so they had to get up one after another to leave, leave the tent anxiously, and each went back to his camp to wait for orders.Although little Gordian really wanted to stay and listen to Sun Shao's plan, he had no choice but to follow along without any excuse.

Sun Shao then arranged a banquet and invited Quintus and Bodiao to drink.Although Quintus and Bodiao were reluctant to see each other, they couldn't return Sun Shao's face, so they had to stay.The three chatted a few words while eating, and slowly got to the point.Sun Shao first said to Quintus: "Old friend, I want to criticize you first. What happened today is mainly because you are wrong."

Quintus poked his neck unconvinced, drinking dull wine.But Bo Tiao glanced at him with some complacency, and hospitablely raised his cup to have a drink with Sun Shao.

"You have 8 people, but King Guishuang only has 2 people. The two sides are not equal. How can you ask him so much? In my opinion, you should not count on the help of King Guishuang and rely on your own strength to get It is reasonable to leave this city. It is unreasonable to pin your hopes on others."

Quintus was a little embarrassed, nodded ashamedly, and raised his glass to gesture to Bodiao. Bodiao was in a good mood and accepted Quintus' apology.

"King Guishuang, you are a famous general who has experienced many battles. I think you are also responsible for today's situation. Although you are not there, you should be able to guess the general situation based on the voice on the battlefield, even if there is something unclear. Yes, you should send someone to take a look, right? Quintus has never fought a war, so he doesn’t know about these situations, so don’t you know too?” Sun Shao said sincerely, “We can come here because we have The common goal is to break Tessiphon and make Ardasil kneel in front of us, but you are also aware of the difficulties involved. If you can't unite and twist the forces together, what will happen in the end? I'm afraid there is no need Am I babbling? Don’t you hope that day will come? If you really have such an idea, then why should we hold on here and retreat earlier.”

Bo Tiao also blushed a little, and wiped his beard in embarrassment.If Sun Shao said he was wrong as soon as he came up, he would definitely beat him to death and refuse to admit it, but now Sun Shao first let Quintus bow his head. If he doesn't give in, it would be too much. What if Sun Shao and Quintus Join hands and leave him aside, isn't he dangerous?

"Let him pass what happened in the past. I hope that from now on, we will be able to act in one place and think in one place, so that such problems will not happen again." Sun Shao raised his glass and said solemnly: "If the two of you If you can listen to me, I believe that the ancient city of Seleu will be conquered smoothly."

Both Quintus and Bodiao were a little surprised, and said at the same time: "Is there a way for the king?"

"My solution is actually very simple, that is, we go up together and overthrow the Sasanians." Sun Shao sneered: "We have 20 troops here, but can we still take down the ancient city of Seleu? To be honest, the reason why I decided not to To participate in the war is to believe that as long as you cooperate with each other, you will definitely be able to win this city, who knows that the two of you actually..."

"But... Although I have 8 people, most of them are newcomers, and King Guishuang has too few people." Quintus said hesitantly, feeling very embarrassed.Originally, he was very ambitious and hoped to make great achievements through this war, and he would become emperor steadily in the future, but after a few days of fierce fighting, he realized the cruelty of war, and now he has been killed and injured several times in just three days of fighting Thousands of people, although they have climbed to the top of the city several times, were driven down by the Sassanians every time, so how can we fight this battle?
"As long as you are willing to listen to my arrangement, I promise to take Seleucus within half a month." Sun Shao said confidently.

"Half a month?" Not only Quintus, but even Bo Tiao couldn't believe it this time.

"Half a month is enough." Sun Shao said with a smile: "From tomorrow onwards, don't stop, just attack like this. Quintus, you need to increase your manpower, and send two corps every time. Don't rush to the city. Pay attention to protect the soldiers, three siege engines are not enough, go up at least ten at a time, if possible, preferably twenty, let's see how the Sasanians defend."

Bo Tiao quickly understood what he meant: "Consume their arrows and defensive supplies?"

"Your Majesty has rich experience." Sun Shao smiled: "Most of the Roman soldiers are rookies. At this time, rushing to climb the city will only increase casualties and damage morale. So don't rush to attack the city, first take the previous action one step at a time. Practice well, adapt to the atmosphere of the battlefield, and at the same time let the Sassanids relax their vigilance, thinking that we are nothing more than this, and then we will go all out, catch him by surprise, and take down the ancient city of Seleu in one fell swoop."

Quintus frowned and thought about it: "However, if you don't practice climbing the city, how can you break the city?"

Bodiao also looked at Sun Shao with some puzzlement.

"Of course you have to practice climbing the city, but there is no need to pay the price with human life." Sun Shao said with a smile: "You won't build a city in other places to simulate it? First let them familiarize themselves with the steps of climbing the city, step by step Well. Once you become proficient, your speed will increase, and increasing your speed means reducing the time spent passively being beaten, which means reducing casualties..."

Listening to Sun Shao's explanation, Quintus and Bodiao quickly understood what they meant.What Sun Shao said was actually very simple. The Romans were newcomers, and the Guishan people were used to cavalry field battles. They were not familiar with attacking cities.You have to practice the basic skills first, and then you can practice the basic skills solidly, and then you will be more competitive in actual combat.Now that you have been playing for a few days, you have some idea of ​​what problems you have. As long as you strengthen targeted practice, you will definitely make great progress.

Quintus was overjoyed and applauded. The Han people are indeed experts in attacking and defending cities. They have rich experience and are not as reckless as himself.He then sincerely asked Sun Shao for advice. Sun Shao finally said, I only know the general idea of ​​these things. If you want to ask specific details, I recommend a person to you. Chengdu is very researched, and there is also General Li, who is also very experienced, and he will definitely be able to help you.

Quintus and Bodiao were overjoyed, and Sun Shao immediately invited Lu Xun and Li Yan to tell them the situation. Lu and Li were very happy when they heard that they had the opportunity to be the husbands of the Romans and Guishuang people.Sun Shao immediately suggested that the Guishuang people and the Romans train together, so that they can observe each other and compete with each other to promote improvement.

The two of Quintus looked at each other and laughed, obeyed, and left happily.Sun Shao left Lu Xun and Li Yan behind and gave them a few more instructions.The two understood each other, and each took their orders and went away.

The next day, Quintus listened to Sun Shao's suggestion and sent four legions to attack the city in turn, but did not force them to go up the city, but tried to lure the Sasanians to fight back under the premise of protecting the soldiers. At the same time, a large amount of Sasanian defense supplies were consumed.At the same time, the Romans built a city head behind the camp and practiced the actions of attacking and defending the city.Under the command of Lu Xun and Li Yan, they practiced from the most basic cooperation, from unfamiliarity to proficiency, from pushing the siege engine to climbing the city to seize the top of the city, and practiced step by step.

Without the shroud of death above their heads, the psychological burden on the Romans was much smaller. With the careful guidance of Lu Xun and Li Yan, they made rapid progress.After Bodiao sent people to observe it a few times, he decided to participate in this kind of exercise, so every day except for the four legions attacking in front, everyone else devoted themselves to the big training.

The Sassanids quickly discovered the anomaly. First, most of the Romans and Guishan people disappeared, leaving only four or five legions posing under the city. Even these four or five legions roared twice every time they attacked the city. Just back off, and then come back again.What made them even more strange was that the people who came to attack the city every day were not from yesterday, as if they took turns to rest and were not in a hurry to attack the city.

What the hell are the Romans doing and where are the rest of their army?The Sassanids couldn't think of anything to argue about. Although they wanted to find out what the Romans were doing, it was not easy for them to send out their scouts to find out what the situation was like because the city was guarded like iron barrels.

After a few days of restlessness, after a day of fighting, Ibrahim, the Sassanid guard, had just returned to his residence, sorted out the battles of the past few days, and speculated about the abnormalities outside the city, A guard suddenly walked in with a panicked expression.

"My lord, come out and have a look."

Ibrahim was taken aback, and quickly followed the guards out the door. As soon as he went out, he felt something strange—almost everyone on the city wall looked up with their necks up.Instinctively, he raised his head and glanced upwards, then took a deep breath.

A piece of light floated in the dark sky. In the light, a man with a Persian hair bun was sitting on a lotus platform, angrily pointing at a man wearing a crown who was kneeling in front of him. A person in Chinese clothing.Although I can't see his face clearly, Ibrahim is no stranger to this person. This is clearly the image of Ahura Mazda, the true god worshiped by the Sasanians. The head of the person kneeling in front of him is also the Sasanian king The crown, and the demeanor is also very similar to Ardasil. Although the person who looks like the Hanfu does not know who it is, but he can stand beside Ahura, obviously he is not an ordinary person.

That ball of light was floating in the air, and it was very conspicuous in the dark night sky. This scene that appeared out of thin air shocked many people. Many people knelt down and recited scriptures.Ibrahim's hands and feet were cold, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

Is this a manifestation of Alara?Is he admonishing Ardashir?But why is there a Han man standing beside him?
Ibrahim's mind went blank, and bead-sized beads of sweat rolled from the corners of his forehead.

Could it be that this battle was fought wrong and Ahura was angry?Ibrahim looked at the light and shadow that was fading away in the sky, his legs trembled, and it took a lot of effort to get himself to stand still. Instead of kneeling down like the others, he immediately ordered the city to see Everyone in this scene shut up, and they are not allowed to tell anyone what they saw, otherwise they will be killed without mercy.At the same time, several priests were invited over and asked them to spread the word among the people, saying that everything they saw was an enemy conspiracy, not the truth.

After Ibrahim gave the order and returned to his residence, he found that his whole body was cold and his hands were trembling involuntarily. He sat blankly for a while, then got up and knelt down in front of the shrine in the corner, clasping his hands together. , whispered the scriptures, and prayed for Allahhu's enlightenment.

(End of this chapter)