I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1130 Tiger Crouchs to Break Through the Barrier
Meanwhile, the Parthians abandoned their dignity and sought help from Rome, while at the same time shifting to a full-scale strategic defensive posture at home, only wanting to maintain the current front line.

But Zhang Liao and his men gave them no chance to catch their breath, and the aftereffects of their crushing defeat soon became apparent.

"charge!"

"All troops attack!"

Zhao Yun and Bahram launched a fierce counterattack without giving them any time to regroup.

The Kopetd Mountains defense line, on which the Parthians placed high hopes?
They couldn't hold out for even a week before collapsing under the overwhelming offensive of the Han army.

Not all of them surrendered at the first sign of trouble; some tried to defend the pass, but when the Han army vanguard brought out a few crouching, dark cylindrical vehicles, everything came to naught.

No one could have imagined that such a small thing would have such power, capable of launching the lightning bolts that had been thrown by manpower directly to bombard their city gate.

That's right, this is artillery, or more precisely, an early type of mortar—the Tiger Crouching Gun.

This is something Su Yao has always wanted to do.

Luoyang can now manufacture some large cannons, but they are difficult to carry. If it is to attack a city in the field, then mortars are still necessary.

Unfortunately, it seems that due to technological limitations, even though Su Yao described it very clearly, the simple and powerful mortar of modern times has never been able to be reproduced.

The few units that the Han army put forward this time were a compromise, finally coming to fruition after sacrificing a lot of firepower and range. Even so, production was extremely limited, and they were all handcrafted by top craftsmen.

However, even with all these problems, it was more than enough to brutally defeat these ignorant Parthians.

When the row of five tiger-squatting cannons roared in unison, the formidable fortress that the Parthians had placed their hopes on began to tremble amidst the deafening roar.

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Five loud bangs followed in succession, as if divine punishment had descended.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon, in its first attempt, failed to hit the city gate due to inaccuracy.

But their shells scattered across the city walls caused immediate panic.

"Mom!"

"What's this?!"

Brick and stone fragments mixed with dust flew everywhere, and a section of the parapet was even blasted down, causing the Parthian garrison hiding behind it to fall with screams.

This horrific attack, far beyond their comprehension, nearly destroyed the morale of the defending troops, which was already crumbling due to the collapse at the front.

"Sorcery! It's Han Chinese sorcery!"

"Shut up!"

"Hold the line at all costs!"

The commander's reprimand had barely begun when another commotion erupted.
boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
The second round of shelling followed immediately. This time, the calibrated cannons finally hit the city gate, shattering their confidence in defending the city. The seemingly indestructible gate collapsed amidst deafening roars and towering flames and splinters.

"The city gates have been breached! Run!"

The commander's shouts were drowned out by a wave of panic. Many Parthian soldiers dropped their weapons and fled in terror, as if a moment's hesitation would mean being devoured by those fire-breathing, thunder-spitting demonic weapons. Before the Han infantry could even launch a charge, the pass's defenses had already crumbled on their own.

Before the smoke of battle had completely cleared, Zhao Yun raised his silver spear and launched a charge: "The city gates have been breached, follow me!"

A crimson torrent swept across the land. The Crimson Cloud Cavalry, leading the Xiongnu, Wusun, and other nomadic cavalry who followed Su Yao, charged straight in, chasing the routed soldiers and breaking through the valley in one go, their advance pointing directly at Bailaomen.

Bailaomen was the core stronghold of the Parthians in the Kopet Dag Mountains. It was strategically located, heavily fortified, and stockpiled with large amounts of grain and reserve troops, protecting the Persian heartland behind it. Its status was similar to that of Tongguan, which protected Chang'an.

Therefore, Bailaomen was the stronghold of Ispabudan, the commander-in-chief of the Parthian army, who was ordered to build it into the strongest bulwark against the advance of the Han army.

However, the commander-in-chief never expected the Han army's advance to be so terrifying. The rout at the front was like an avalanche; he hadn't even had time to fully process the defeat reports or to rebuild the morale of his troops before the crimson tide was already about to reach the city!
"My lord, my lord, something terrible has happened!"

"In three days, at the latest, the Han army will be at the city gates!"

"The city is in complete chaos. We need your advice on how to deal with this as soon as possible!"

The sharpness of the Han army's advance clearly dealt a severe blow to the morale of the defenders at Bailaomen, causing panic and fear among the city's inhabitants.

Many people even began to secretly consider defecting to the enemy. Considering the influence of General Bahram, many people privately felt that rather than being buried with that muddle-headed false king and the doomed Parthian Empire, it would be better to surrender to the Han army as soon as possible, so that they could preserve their family's wealth and even secure a place in the new dynasty.

Commander-in-Chief Ispabdan sat in his tent, his face ashen, listening to the faint commotion and panicked discussions coming from outside, his heart turning cold.

How can such an army win battles?
Not to mention that he currently has no way to deal with the Han army's powerful weapons for breaching cities, his anxious and scheming subordinates mean that if he insists on defending the city, he might be betrayed at any time.

After hesitating for half an hour, Commander-in-Chief Ispabdan finally made a difficult decision.

"Withdraw troops!"

"Back to Ekbatana!"

"The salt desert of Cavill will protect us!"

Thus, under Ispabdan's orders, the Parthian army easily abandoned the entire Kopet Dag Mountains defense line and began a desperate escape to their homeland in the west.

This crushing defeat came at a terrible cost to the Parthians.

Pursued and pursued by the Han cavalry, the Parthians deployed another 10,000 men to block the retreat of their main force, thus managing to escape.

These 10,000 men, of course, never returned; they were completely wiped out by the Han army.

Meanwhile, without the protection of their main force, the Parthian heartland was wide open. Zhao Yun's knights and Bahram's Green Army raced across the land, not only completely seizing the Parthian ancestral land from which the Parthians rose to power, but also taking over many provinces east of the Salt Desert.

Su Yao returned shortly after this great victory, which is why he didn't see Zhao Yun and Bahram—the two of them were busy expanding their territory ahead.

"Oh? Are these Parthians really so spineless? Surrendering so readily?"

Su Yao glanced at his system map and finally understood how this green area had been captured.

However, he was still quite surprised, as the results achieved by Zhang Liao and others were in no way inferior to his previous efforts.

To seize such a vast territory in such a short time could not have been achieved by conquering cities one by one; it must have been done by surrendering at the mere sight of the enemy, or even by issuing a proclamation.
(End of this chapter)