God Three Group Chat: Three Kingdoms

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"Parthia has already sent word that the main force of the Roman army has crossed the river and is heading south from the north, reaching our northern border. They are already arrayed and advancing!" Xu Shu closed the document in his hand and spoke to Sima Yi as calmly as possible.

"Openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass, it seems the Romans aren't just reckless brutes who only know how to fight head-on. However, given their previous actions of leaving at night and returning by day, this situation is quite normal. Even if we knew about this, it would probably be difficult to stop them." Sima Yi understood the Romans' actions, but also felt somewhat helpless.

Although the other party's scheme is a tactic that can be seen through, being able to see through the other party's tactic does not mean that you can do something about the other party.

Both the Fifth Legion and the Fourteenth Legion were extremely troublesome strategic legions, possessing formidable strength in strategic cover and misdirection. Even if they could guess this information, they could not deduce the true direction and location of Rome's advance.

Rome chose the mode of total war, which provided the best cover in terms of both the location and intensity of the attack.

With dozens or even hundreds of barbarian legions, the number of attack targets and information provided each day is extremely busy. The challenge lies in finding the right direction among these numbers, especially when the enemy has the ability to provide physical cover.

This thing is no different from pure gambling now.

While deploying scouts along the entire river can indeed speed up information gathering and even increase the probability of discovering the enemy ahead of time, the movement of an army takes time, and the movement of a large army takes even longer.

If the enemy cannot be spotted before the Roman army crosses the river, then the purpose of spotting them is lost.

"Notify all generals to prepare for a meeting. This time, the Romans are not here to joke around!" Sima Yi didn't believe that the other side was just here for a stroll and to teach Parthia a lesson, since they were even using such a large-scale, costly, and time-consuming strategic deception.

Sima Yi could understand even someone who was willing to go to such lengths to destroy Parthia.

Everyone had their own intelligence gathering channels and had received information from the Northern Romans to varying degrees. Therefore, when they heard Sima Yi's summons, they arrived very quickly, and some were even on their way.

Before long, the commanders of the various legions in the Han Empire, as well as the relevant strategists, basically all gathered together.

"As you all surely know, the Roman army crossed the river without suffering any losses, assembled its forces, and is advancing southwards. Their momentum has already spread far and wide, making this war seem unavoidable." After briefly explaining the current situation, Sima Yi changed the subject and outlined the next steps: "There are rivers to the west and east, so even if we want to retreat, we must first establish a reasonable level of security."

In the current situation, retreating eastward without regard for anything else would most likely be the best way to escape, since there are always pontoon bridges across the rivers to the east that provide manpower and logistical resources. If they want to retreat, they just need to cross the bridge.

However, from a battlefield perspective, executing such an order would essentially mean giving up on future battles.

If the army were to retreat en masse under such circumstances, it would inevitably create chaos. The more anxious they were, the more likely they were to panic. If the Roman army delayed them even slightly, without sufficient order and response, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, even if a retreat was truly necessary, it was essential to slow down the Roman army's advance and buy some time.

The best approach would be to block the Roman legions during the day, then use the cover of night and the celestial phenomena to cross the river under cover of darkness. This way, even if the Romans wanted to pursue, they would have to be cautious. "Fight one battle before retreating, I have no objection." Looking at the others present, Li Jue nodded on the spot, agreeing to this basic plan.

Everyone knows that the Xiliang cavalry are slow, but when they really run, they may not be much faster than light infantry. If they are disorganized and only care about running away, they may not be much stronger in the end.

After glancing at Sun Quan, Li Yan quickly expressed his opinion: "Our army has no objection, but once the Roman army has assembled, its ranged units can easily suppress us. If we need to cover the rear with ranged units, the effect may not be ideal."

Although that was the meaning behind his words, Sima Yi could also discern another layer of meaning.

That means if you want to perform a remote backdoor attack, you'll probably need to prepare and hide in advance.

However, it's hard to say for sure. Only on the battlefield, based on the situation, can better arrangements be made.

"The commander-in-chief has given the order; execute it with all our might!" Cao Chun looked at Sima Yi seriously and then stated his position directly.

The Roman Empire was very powerful, and the aura it was conveying this time was even more domineering and oppressive.

An army capable of generating such pressure is certainly not a small-scale operation.

Faced with such a formidable opponent, survival depends on giving it your all; any hindrance pushes you to the brink of death.

In the current situation, to go all out, one must have a qualified commander and a group of qualified subordinates.

So after considering everything, Cao Chun decided to completely hand over command and obey Sima Yi's arrangements.

Regardless, Sima Yi was the nominal commander-in-chief, inherently possessing command authority. Moreover, Sima Yi was highly capable, giving him a greater chance of victory during the command process.

Upon hearing Cao Chun's words, Sima Yi glanced at Cao Chun with some surprise, then looked at Xi Zhong behind Cao Chun, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded.

"Since no one has any objections, please listen to my orders and carry them out to the best of your ability. No mistakes will be tolerated, and any violation will be punished according to military law!" Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Sima Yi made his stance clear, especially after giving Sun Quan a serious look before making his decision.

This is a coalition of armies from multiple factions, each backed by a powerful force. If anything goes wrong, the retaliation from the opposing side will be substantial.

However, given the circumstances, Sima Yi had no choice but to do his best.

Offending someone now at least means you can survive today; but if you don't offend anyone and everyone acts according to their own ideas, you might not even see tomorrow. (End of Chapter)