I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1176 The Last Augustus
Inside the port of Sinop, in the temporary palace (formerly the governor's residence), the atmosphere was as oppressive as the deathly stillness before a storm.

Emperor Severus listened to Lucius Fabius's tearful report, his face turning from pale to ashen, finally becoming deathly ashes. He slumped into the ivory chair, a symbol of the governor's authority, as if all his energy had been drained away in an instant. Protina and the remaining high-ranking generals and elders surrounded him, their faces ashen, their eyes filled with despair and struggle.

“Unconditional surrender…relinquish the title of Emperor…leave the city with your hands bound…” Severus murmured these words repeatedly, each one like a poisonous thorn piercing his heart. This was not merely a personal humiliation, but the trampling of Rome’s centuries-old glory into the dust.

"Your Majesty! We cannot surrender!" A young Praetorian Guard officer excitedly drew his dagger. "Romans can die in battle, but they cannot live in humiliation! We still have the walls, and our loyal soldiers! We..."

“And then?” Severus abruptly raised his head, interrupting him, his voice hoarse and weary. “Should the entire city be buried with my glory? Look outside! Look at the eyes of those soldiers! How much will they have left to fight? How much food do we have left to sustain us?”

He stood up, walked unsteadily to the window, and looked out at the several giant Han warships that resembled mountains on the sea, as well as the faint Han army flags visible in the distance.

"Two hundred thousand soldiers... have already perished at my hands. Must I also let these last ten thousand men, and the entire city's inhabitants, be buried with me because of my stubbornness?"

Protinas closed his eyes in anguish: "Your Majesty, perhaps... perhaps we can try to break through..."

"Breakout? Where to?" Severus gave a bitter laugh. "The land route is blocked by Cao Cao, and the sea route is blocked by Su Yao. Even if a few manage to escape and return to Italy... having lost the Eastern Provinces, the elite legions, and the navy... can we still hold Italy? Will Albinus let this opportunity pass? Will the Senate still support Augustus, who has suffered a humiliating defeat and lost most of the empire?"

A series of questions struck everyone's hearts like heavy hammer blows. Reality was so cruel; they had nowhere else to turn.

A long silence enveloped the entire hall, broken only by the howling wind outside the windows. Finally, as if using all his strength, Severus slowly removed the golden laurel wreath from his head; the crown symbolizing the highest power in Rome now seemed so heavy.

"For...the future of Rome." His voice was low and hoarse, filled with endless sorrow and resentment, "Give the order...to prepare...to surrender."

"Your Majesty!" Protinus and several veteran generals knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Severus waved his hand, his back looking incredibly desolate in the dim light: "Go, prepare according to... His Majesty the Emperor's requirements. At least... he promised to spare the lives of the soldiers."

……

On the third day of the first month of the sixth year of the Kaiyuan era, the snow cleared up.

The gates of the port of Sinop slowly opened. Led by Septimius Severus, all the surviving senior generals and elders, including Protinus, Letus (who had joined them during their escape), Quintus (who was being carried due to serious injuries), and Macrinus, walked out of the city on foot, dressed in plain clothes, with disheveled hair and bare feet, without any weapons.

Severus, carrying the Roman emperor's purple-gold crown and scepter, led the procession. His face was pale, his eyes vacant, like a soulless shell. Behind him, the remaining twelve thousand Roman soldiers marched out dejectedly, piling their legionary eagles, weapons, and armor like small mountains on the open ground in front of the port.

Outside the harbor, all the warships of the Han fleet faced the harbor from the sides, their cannons menacing, and their red flags waving. The Dingyuan lowered its gangplank, and Su Yao, surrounded by Zhou Yu, Guo Jia, and a group of Han generals, went ashore to accept the surrender.

When Severus was ten paces away from Su Yao, he stopped, took a deep breath, as if to forever remember the cold, sea-scented air. Then, he slowly knelt on the cold snow, raised his crown and scepter high, and with his last strength, uttered those humiliating words destined to be recorded in history:

"The defeated general, the deposed monarch... Septimius Severus, leading the remnants of Rome, humbly surrenders unconditionally to His Majesty the Great Emperor. From this day forward... there will be no more Roman Augustus... We humbly submit to His Majesty's... divine judgment."

His voice echoed across the empty coastline, carrying the endless sorrow of an empire's fall.

Su Yao stepped forward, took the crown symbolizing the highest authority in the Western world, weighed it in his hand, and then handed it to the scribe beside him. "Record: On the third day of the first month of the sixth year of the Kaiyuan era, the Roman false emperor Severus, having exhausted his military power and angered Heaven, has now repented, relinquished his imperial title, and led his people to surrender. I, in accordance with Heaven's will and the people's will, accept his territories. The former eastern territories of the Roman Empire now belong entirely to the Great Han. The false emperor Severus and all his surrendered officials and soldiers are to be escorted to Luoyang to await their fate."

His voice was calm and dignified, announcing the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one.

With Severus's surrender, the Roman Empire's resistance in the East completely collapsed. The vast empire that once spanned Europe, Asia, and Africa saw its eastern half fall into the hands of Emperor Su Yao of the Han Dynasty. From that moment on, the waves of the Mediterranean would reflect a different flag.

Su Yao turned around, facing the vast expanse of the Black Sea and the boundless, unconquered land further west, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

The journey to the West is far from over.

Because Italy would never easily accept such an outcome.

As expected, without even needing a reaction from Italy, many towns in Asia Minor could not accept this outcome and launched fierce resistance against the Han soldiers who came to take over the cities.

"Rome will never perish!"

"Fight to the bitter end!"

"For the Senate and the people of Rome!"

In the heart of Asia Minor, some towns controlled by local nobles and Roman veterans, upon hearing the news of Severus's surrender, did not surrender but instead raised the banner of resistance. They closed their city gates, fortified their defenses, and vowed to shed their last drop of blood for Rome.

The resistance was most intense in Metropol (Ankara), the capital of Galata Province.

The city's governor, Marcus Valerius, was a staunch old republican nobleman who declared Severus's surrender an act of "treason," refused to recognize its legitimacy, and called on all "true Romans" to hold their ground.

Metropol, a city with a long history, was the heart of the empire in Asia Minor, a transportation hub connecting East and West, and a center of politics, commerce, art and culture. Even the name Metropol itself means "metropolis" or "capital".

"Soldiers! Citizens!"

Valerius stood on the city wall and shouted:

"Severus betrayed Rome in disgrace, but we did not! Metropol is Rome's last stronghold in Asia Minor! Our ancestors defeated invading barbarians here, and today, we will make those arrogant conquerors from the East bleed! For the Senate and the people of Rome (SPQR)!"

"For the Senate and the people of Rome!" the defenders roared fervently, many with faces filled with sorrow and resolve. Among them were senators loyal to republican traditions and disgusted by Severus's military dictatorship, local Roman citizens with families in the city, and many free men and slaves stirred by Valerius's slogan, "Rome never gives up." They firmly believed that Ankara's strategic location and formidable defenses would inflict heavy losses on any attacker.

However, in response to their efforts, Su Yao simply said to Cao Cao, "Those who are stubborn and unyielding shall be executed immediately."

(End of this chapter)