I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1161 Don’t call it unforeseen
In the fifth year of the Kaiyuan era, in the middle of the tenth month, Byzantium.

Emperor Severus was discussing the mobilization of the army, supplies along the way, and the navy for the eastern expedition with his trusted generals, including Protina, when suddenly a scout stumbled into the council chamber and fell to the ground with a thud.
"It's terrible! Your Majesty, something horrible has happened!"

"What's all this commotion?" Emperor Severus frowned, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. "Has the African Front been attacked, or has Letus lost another city in Asia Minor?"

Emperor Severus was in a bad mood. Before the arrival of the main force, there was little they could do in the face of sporadic harassment from the Han army.

Those conquerors from the East were simply too strong. Not only were they more capable in open battle than the nomadic barbarians of the past, but they were also proficient in weaponry, making them invincible in attacking cities.

This rendered almost all of the Romans' previous methods of relying on fortified cities to fight against barbarians ineffective.

Border fortresses were felled by the Han army at an astonishing speed. General Letus's battle reports were updated almost daily with a list of lost strongholds—Comagini, Thorungus, Zeuma… These stone fortresses, which had blocked the Parthians for decades, often could not hold out for more than three to five days against the Han army's thunderous weapons.

Even those who managed to hold out a little longer soon discovered it was a cunning trap set by the Han Chinese. They dared to use their strategic location as bait to annihilate nearby support troops!
Therefore, the news that Severus heard most often during this period was "the fall of a certain place" and "the retreat of a certain unit". Now, the scout's dispirited appearance made him even more irritable.

Subconsciously, he thought of the navy he had sent to conquer Antioch.

Now, perhaps only this force can bring him good news. After all, the Roman Empire's naval supremacy remains absolute!
However.
"What, what did you say???"

In a daze, Severus felt as if he had misheard something. He stiffly tilted his neck, his eyes fixed on the scout kneeling on the ground.

The air in the council chamber froze. Generals like Protinus looked extremely grim, and none of them dared to speak.

"The navy is finished."

The scout spoke again with difficulty: "General Marcus was killed in battle, and General Tiberius surrendered with his remaining ships... More than eighty warships, not a single one returned, the entire army was wiped out."

boom!
Severus and the others felt as if their brains had been suddenly struck by a hammer, and their heads were buzzing.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

A general exclaimed, “Those are eighty warships! The most elite force in the Eastern Mediterranean! Those Easterners don’t even have a single ship, how could they possibly take down eighty warships?!”

“Yes, yes, yes!” another general nodded repeatedly. “Don’t talk nonsense. How could those landlubbers have such abilities? Besides, if the entire navy was wiped out and not a single ship returned, how would you know the news?!”

With that, the general grabbed the scout by the collar, threw him to the ground, and said, "Your Majesty! Please drag this fellow who is spreading false information and undermining morale out of the army and execute him immediately!"

"Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, spare your life!"

The scout was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Everything I said is true! The news has spread all over the docks."

"The Han people somehow produced more than a dozen large pipes that could spew thunder and flames, and placed them on the coast, with a range of almost a thousand paces!"

"Our warships were smashed to pieces by those lightning bolts before they even got close to the port! General Marcus's flagship broke in two after just one hit... And those ghost ships, without oars, flew across the water on wheels, as fast as arrows, our ballistae couldn't hit them at all!"

"These are all the words of sailors who escaped from Cyprus. They saw with their own eyes that the sea off Antioch was full of our shipwrecks, and that Han Chinese fast ships were towing captured Roman warships toward the port. They even hung the eagle flag from our general's flagship on the dock to show off!" The scout's words sent chills down everyone's spines.

Are we going to be defeated at sea as well?

Emperor Severus dared not be careless and immediately ordered Protinus to send people to the port to investigate the situation.

Then, they quickly learned more detailed information from the sailors and merchants who flocked to them for refuge.

There was even a letter from the "Emperor".

"what?!"

Severus's eyes widened suddenly, his fists clenched, and his gaze was fixed on the letter in Protina's hand, bound in silk and stamped with a golden dragon seal:
"He... he still dares to write letters?!"

Protinas took a deep breath and said slowly, "This was brought by a Jewish merchant from Antioch. He also brought a token of General Tiberius, which we have confirmed is indeed his ring."

General Tiberius, the naval commander of the Cypriot fleet, would never have had this thing fall into the hands of the Han people if the fleet had not suffered a major defeat.

Severus then snatched the letter. Unfolding it, he found fluent, slightly exotic Greek, but the wording carried a condescending, almost humiliating, sense of "tolerance":
"Emperor Su Yao to Augustus Septimius of Rome"

"I rule over all directions, and the Mandate of Heaven has been bestowed upon me. In the Battle of Antioch, your fleet was reduced to dust, and naval power changed hands. This is the will of Heaven, not a fault of the war."

"Considering that you dwell in the remote western frontier and are unaware of the might of Heaven, I, with my benevolent heart, cannot bear to slaughter you all. I hereby inform you that from now on, the waves of the Mediterranean will reflect my red flag. If you are wise enough to act accordingly, you should follow the example of the Parthians and the Egyptian states, surrender your lands, and I will grant you a royal title, protect your temples, and save the Roman people from the calamity of war."

"If they remain obstinate and stubbornly resist, when my heavenly army arrives in Italy, I will surely flatten the Capitoline Hill, burn down the Senate, and forever erase the name of Rome from the annals of history!"

"Don't say you weren't warned!"

"Imperial Inscription in the Autumn of the Fifth Year of the Kaiyuan Era of the Han Dynasty"

"Arrogant! Shameless!!"

After reading it, Emperor Severus was so angry that he trembled all over. He threw the letter on the ground and stomped on it.

"A barbarian chieftain from the East, not only arrogant beyond measure, but also dares to humiliate the Roman emperor like this! To flatten the Capitoline Mountains? To burn down the Senate? Who does he think he is?! Is he Hannibal reincarnated?! No, even Hannibal wouldn't dare to utter such arrogant words!"

Immediately, the enraged emperor ordered the mobilization of a fleet of five hundred ships to launch a surprise attack on Antioch.

"I want him to know that the Mediterranean Sea is Rome's inland lake! It's not a place where barbarians can run rampant! I will use the overwhelming force of the Roman fleet to raze Antioch to the ground!"

The council chamber was deathly silent, save for Emperor Severus's heavy breathing.

(End of this chapter)