The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 335
The Yue navy attacked halfway across the strait, blocking Maximus in the strait. Maximus had [-] wolf-like main forces, but he was powerless to fight back against the warships of the Yue people. , and was killed on the spot by the concentrated attack of the thunderbolt chariot on the warship of the Yue Kingdom. General Ipagosus's liver and gallbladder were torn. Seeing the penetrating warship continuously flooded, he no longer had any fighting spirit, so he immediately ordered surrender.

The news spread to the city of Byzantium. Aurelinus, who was commanding two Roman legions and two mercenary legions against Gordian, was in a state of confusion and misconducted his command. He was seized by the experienced Gordian. , suddenly launched an attack, and a Teutonic mercenary battalion was the first to enter the battle. Their semi-crazed fighting passion crushed the fighting spirit of the rebels in a timely manner. One of the centurions killed, the army collapsed, and then surrendered to Gordian.

Gordian solved the battle with unexpected ease, and the old man was stunned. Looking at the kneeling rebels in front of him, he couldn't believe his eyes.

The news spread to Rome at the fastest speed, and the Senate was ecstatic. They conveyed the news of the victory to the citizens in the Roman Forum, and the citizens were also overjoyed. They all attributed the credit to Momia. , it was she who advocated an alliance with the Yue people, and with the help of the Yue warships, she turned the tide and saved Rome.They spontaneously gathered around the palace to sing and dance to express their respect for Momia.

The Roman Emperor Quintus walked into the palace happily. His queen Momia was holding Alexander's posthumous son Philip Severus, humming nursery rhymes, and the chubby Philip was lying in her arms. Li, who was already about to fall asleep, opened his eyes again when he heard Quintus' footsteps, grinned, opened his arms towards Quintus, and made a babbling sound with his mouth.

Quintus greeted him with a smile, hugged Philip, and lifted it up high. Philip laughed excitedly, and saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth, dripping on Quintus's face.Momia looked at the two of them playing with a smile on her face, with a warm smile on her face.

Alexander's death was a great blow to her. She has been immersed in grief, regretting that she did not go out with Alexander as before, and she was released for the first time. She did not expect such a result, and she regretted it.Now Quintus sat on the throne of the Roman emperor with her help, thanked him, not only married her as queen, but also handed over most of the rights to her, and more importantly, he also accepted Philip as The adopted son promised that when Philip grew up, he would pass the throne to Philip.

It is said that Philip is the posthumous son of Alexander, the grandson of Quintus. It seems a bit wrong to adopt him as an adopted son, but the Romans don't pay attention to these. Alexander is the adopted son of his former emperor Esgarbalus. Just cousin relationship.

Quintus and Philip went crazy for a while, and then let the nurse carry him away, took Momia's arm, walked to the window, pointed to the boiling street and said, "We have won."

Momia didn't speak, but just nodded, with a faint smile on her face, but two lines of tears slipped down her delicate face.The Romans were victorious, and the chief culprits, Maximus and his son, died, but her son Alexander, whom she devoted herself to cultivating, also died and could never come back.How perfect it would be if Alexander commanded and won the war.

It's just that she can't say these words to Quintus. Although Quintus has no ambitions and is humble enough, he is a man after all.Momia could only regret in her heart, but she couldn't show it on her face.What surprised her even more was that she originally thought that Sun Shao was fooling her, what would be the use of only sending 100 sailors to travel long distances?Moreover, she heard that the number of warships in Yue State was very small, no more than [-] large and small ships. In order to hurry, even the supply ships were left behind.She was very worried that once the battle was stalemate, the suddenness of the Yue Navy would lose its effect, which would be very detrimental to the war. For this reason, she specially assembled more than [-] Roman warships and sent them to Gordian's subordinates to assist the Yue Navy in combat. .

Even so, before receiving the news of victory, Momia was not very sure. Her composure in front of Quintus, her confidence in front of the Senate members, and her composure in front of the Roman citizens were all fake. For their peace of mind.Unexpectedly, he actually won the battle now, and won so easily.

"Jiang Gan, the envoy of the King of Yue, said that once the news of Maximus' defeat reaches Axum, Ardashir will definitely withdraw his troops. In that case, Rome will suffer greatly due to internal strife, but Ardashir will have no loss. , The future situation is still unfavorable to us." Quintus explained softly: "He hopes that we can let Gordian lead the army to Egypt and ambush Ardashir's army."

Momia's eyes flashed, she turned around and looked at the crowd celebrating on the street, and said after a while, "He actually wants to ambush Ardashir? Is it necessary?"

Quintus hesitated for a moment, and he also felt that Sun Shao's request was a bit excessive. Although Gordian won a complete victory, this was a civil war in Rome after all, and it dealt a great blow to Rome's vitality. More than 5000 people were lost in the battle with Aurelinus outside the city of Zhanting. If the news of Maximus’ death did not hit the morale of Aurelinus, it is really uncertain who will win in the end. .Under such circumstances, Sun Shao asked them to cross the Mediterranean Sea and rush to Egypt to block Ardashir's return, which seemed a bit difficult.

However, he has been with Sun Shao for so many years, and he has strong confidence in Sun Shao. Since Sun Shao asked so, then he must be reasonable, so although he didn't understand it, he still took the initiative to discuss it with Momia.

Momia sighed, she vaguely guessed Sun Shao's intention.The civil strife in Rome subsided quickly, and Ardasil's plan had come to nothing. If he didn't rush back to Ctesiphon in time, if the Romans and the Guishan people went east and west and attacked Ctesiphon, Ctesiphon would be in danger.It was inevitable for him to withdraw his troops, but Sun Shao didn't want him to withdraw smoothly. He wanted the Romans to ambush Ardashir in Egypt, which should be a calculation of two tigers fighting each other.The Romans and the Sassanians fought a bloody battle, both sides consumed their strength, and it was the Vietnamese who benefited in the end.

Isn't it enough for him to have the right to garrison the Mediterranean Sea?Momia was angry and annoyed.

"Even if Gordian has nearly 8 troops now, it seems that he is not strong enough to rush to Egypt to stop Ardashir?" Momia said indifferently: "Among the [-] people, most of them are barbarians. Mercenaries, it costs money to let them go to war. Even if you have money, can you go there in time? The Sassanids are mainly cavalry, and the speed is very fast."

"It's not just us, there are people from Yue." Quintus said softly, "It is said that a general named Lu Xun is the king's brother-in-law leading the army. I heard from King Yue that he values ​​this general very much."

"Lu Xun?" Momia frowned, "Where is he now, and how many people are there?"

"According to Jiang Gan, Lu Xun seems to have arrived in Egypt a long time ago. There are about 5 people." Quintus explained: "It is not difficult for them to go directly by boat from the Red Sea. The Sassanids did not have warships." , it is not easy to find them."

"5 people, so there is indeed some chance." Momia breathed a sigh of relief, thought for a moment, and then asked: "After this battle is over, does he have any plans?"

"Not yet." Quintus shook his head and said slowly: "If this battle is won and the Sasanians have suffered heavy losses, it is a good opportunity for us to regain Armenia and Syria. And the Kushan people Together, it is not impossible to march into Ctesiphon. It’s just that the Sasanians have nearly [-] troops. If we want to win, the chances are really small. What I’m worried about is that we ambush the Sassanids and pay heavy losses, but let Guishuang If people took advantage of it, it would be a bit impossible to explain it to the Senate."

Momia nodded. Quintus has been doing diplomatic work for these years, so he has a clearer view of the general situation.Since Sun Shao had already sent Lu Xun to Egypt with an army of [-], it meant that he had planned for this battle long ago, and he should be able to calculate that the Sasanians might break through their blockade and return to Taixifeng. There should be further arrangements.

From another point of view, if Ardasil is allowed to return to Ctesiphon smoothly, it will not do any harm to Sun Shao. Because he helped the Romans, he has already obtained the sea power in the Mediterranean in a legitimate way, even if Ardasil Dissatisfied, he has nothing to do, because he has no navy to compete with Sun Shao.But Rome is different, they have to face the threat of Ardashir. Instead of this, it is better to cooperate with the Yue people to severely damage Ardashir. If Ardashir's strength is damaged, there will be no strength to provoke Rome. Rome may This can give you a few years of respite.On the contrary, if he does not cooperate with Sun Shao's actions, and Rome is hit by Ardashir in the future, he may not lend a helping hand again.

For Rome, sending troops to cooperate with Sun Shao may not have any benefits, but there must be disadvantages if not sending troops to cooperate. Perhaps it is precisely because of this consideration that Sun Shao proposed to ask Rome to cooperate in the battle, because he knew that Momia Eyes, will not fail to see the pros and cons.Momia sighed. Although she knew that Sun Shao was threatening, she didn't have much choice in front of the interests, so she could only accept this request.I hope that this joint operation can achieve its goal. If it can break into Taixi Fengcheng, it will be an exciting victory.With this victory, Quintus' throne will be more stable, the Severus family will be able to continue, and the lovely Philip will have a bright future.

Thinking of Philip, Momia felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and there was a trace of warmth in her resentment towards Sun Shao.

"For such an important matter, His Majesty the Emperor and the members of the Senate should discuss it. I am a woman, how can I know the importance of these matters." Momia changed into a gentle smile and smiled softly.Quintus breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Momia had agreed, and the rest of the problems would be solved. The members of the Senate were not too fond of him as the emperor, but they respected the queen Momia very much. Members There are several powerful factions among them who are Momia's supporters. If Momia doesn't nod, they will definitely not agree to the expedition.

Seeing Quintus walking out briskly, Jiang Gan finally let go of his hanging heart.He admired Sun Shao now, as if Momia would agree if he was thousands of miles away. In this way, with the participation of the Romans, the plan to ambush the Sasanians would be more perfect.

Quintus quickly notified the plan of the expedition to the Senate. With Momia's nod, the councilors did not obstruct too much, but only asked that the royal family provide a certain amount of funds to deal with the mercenary issue. It cannot be all paid for by the nobles.Quintus knew exactly what was going on in their hearts.When Alexander was alive, most of the benefits of cooperating with the Yue people were in the hands of Alexander and his father-in-law Escanomi. Members of the Senate received limited oil and water and had great opinions. Now Alexander and Escanomi Nomi is dead, and those benefits should naturally be redistributed.This expedition of [-] troops to Egypt is a good opportunity to blackmail the emperor.

After discussing with Momia, Quintus transferred some of the businesses originally controlled by Escanomi to some members of the Senate, satisfying their desires and allowing the expedition plan to pass smoothly.

A month later, Gordian's army and Cui Qian's fleet set off from Byzantium to Egypt.After drifting at sea for more than a month, they arrived in Egypt and joined the army led by Lu Xun.Lu Xun had already received the news from Jiang Gan, who came earlier, and arranged the camp. He was also accompanied by the governor of the Roman and Egyptian provinces and the kings of several vassal states. They were harassed by the Sassanids a while ago. , This time they got an order from Rome, asking them to cooperate with the Vietnamese army to ambush the Sasanians, and they arrived soon.

Not long after Gordian and Cui Qian arrived, Xia Hourong also arrived, and there were more than 1 Arabs with him.Gordian frowned when he saw the Arab.The Romans called the Arabs the Bedouins. The deepest impression on them was that they were good at doing business. They sold goods from the Gulf of Aden and could go all the way to the borders of the northern barbarians. The other was that they liked to rob, and this seemed to be more prominent than doing business. It can be said that their business and robbery are inseparable. Many goods may have been stolen. Robbery seems to have become their nature. It is rare for single-order merchants who are close to them not to suffer.Now Sun Shao actually pulled these people over, which made Gordian feel very uncomfortable.Cui Qian was originally a pirate, but now he is the general of the Yue Kingdom after all, and Bedouins are all robbers regardless of their status. Wouldn't it be a shame to fight side by side with such a person?
Lu Xun saw Gordian's displeasure, pulled him aside and explained, the general can rest assured that these people are just our temporary allies, and they will not act with us.Inviting them this time is to give full play to their strengths in looting and looting, and let them harass the grain roads of the Sasanians.The general is a majestic formation, a regular soldier, they are chickens and dogs, and they are surprise soldiers.

Lu Xun is gentle and elegant, very different from the Yue people that Gordian met before. The kind of elegance that cannot be pretended is just in line with the taste of Gordian, an old nobleman.Gordian didn't understand the meaning of chicken crowing and dog robbery, so Lu Xun explained it again. Gordian smiled when he heard Wan'er, stroked his snow-white beard and said, "The wisdom of your Han people really cannot be underestimated. I didn't expect this It’s really eye-opening that your villain can play such a great role. General Lu, it’s an honor for me, Gordian, to fight side by side with you.”

Lu Xun hurriedly said a few words of humility.Cui Qian, who was sitting on the side, snorted disapprovingly. He was the least interested in these so-called nobles. He quarreled with little Gordian along the way, and several times vehemently wanted to throw all the Romans into the Mediterranean Sea to feed the sea. Go demon.The Gordians didn't like him, and he didn't like the Gordians either, but they hit it off with those barbarian mercenaries. They drank big bowls and ate big pieces of meat along the way. They got to know each other very well. The Goths all became his good friends.

When more than [-] troops gathered towards Egypt from several directions, Ardashir was still in the dark. After several months of siege, he still failed to capture the city of Axum. Under the guard of the Han people, Axum was unbreakable. The Sassanids, who are invincible all over the world on horseback, were beaten to death under the city of Axum time and time again, and the Yueren's crossbow made them suffer.Most of the Sassanians wear chain mail, and only cover the key parts with plate armor. This kind of equipment has enough protection against enemies mainly with bows and arrows. They are used to this kind of equipment and always think that this kind of chain mail is enough. To ensure their safety, but in front of the Liannu of the Yue people, the chain mail lost its prestige in the past, and the casualties increased greatly. Once it encountered a sharp weapon such as the city defense crossbow, it would be even more vulnerable, and it was often shot. A pair to wear.

The crossbows of the Yue people became a nightmare for the Sassanid cavalry. Although the Sassanids are numerous and powerful, every time they attack a city, they must first charge forward against the opponent's arrows. It is extremely lucky to be able to rush to the city. In the process of attaching the city, they would still be ravaged by them. Even if they climbed the city wall, there would still be heavily armed soldiers of the Destroying Front Battalion and Axum slaves eager to make meritorious deeds waiting to take their heads. The people rushed to the top of the city excitedly, but in the end they found that the Yue people released the water and deliberately let them rush up, so that the itchy Destroyer Camp and Axum gladiators could satisfy their hunger.

Ardashir was furious, and he ordered Shapur to ask Valag to open the city gate as soon as possible to welcome the Sasanians into the city, otherwise, he would be at his own risk.

Valag was also very distressed when he received the news. He saw that the Sassanids had suffered heavy losses in several attacks on the city. He didn't need to think about it and knew that Ardashir must be very popular, but he didn't dare to act lightly.He seemed to feel that someone was watching him. Out of caution, he secretly investigated and found out that it was Yu An, the Marquis of the Destroyer Camp beside Sun Shao, who did it.

Warrag broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't know if Yu An's actions were ordered by Sun Shao.He carefully recalled what he had done in the past few months, and he couldn't find any flaws, and Sun Shao didn't seem to have any doubts about him. Every time he saw him, he was very enthusiastic, and he would tell him everything. After discussing with him, he proudly told him a few days ago that the reason why he dared to stand firm in Axum was because he knew that the Sasanians were not good at attacking the city. The Sasanians looked at the city of Axum but there was nothing they could do.He also said to Warrag strangely, just wait, the Sasanians are going to be in trouble, their main force is trapped outside the city, and Taixi is closed and empty. I have already sent people to land in the Persian Gulf to cooperate with the Romans and noble The Frostmen went to lay siege to Ctesiphon.This time the Sassanians not only won't get any benefits, but also suffer a lot.

At that time, Sun Shao was so drunk that his eyes were blurred, and he almost fell into the arms of the beautiful woman offered by Varag. Valag was skeptical of his words. He felt that Sun Shao was talking to himself, but he felt that it might not be all drunk. Sun Shao has been besieged in Axum for nearly half a year. The reinforcements have never come, and several ships have been wandering around the sea. They have never really attacked with all their strength. They seem to be indifferent to the king's besieged. If it is true as Sun Shao said, He was confident in defending Axum, and it seemed reasonable to have someone attack Tessiphon instead.

At least, the fact that Sun Shao was able to talk to him in this situation showed that Sun Shao was not wary of him, and Yu An's behavior was probably not at Sun Shao's behest.

Valage thought hard for a long time, and decided to take a risk, so he found an opportunity to accuse Yu An of spying on him in front of Yu An.He knelt in front of Sun Shao weeping bitterly and said, if the king believes in me, don’t let people watch me anymore. If you don’t believe me, please remove me as the king of Axum. After living the rest of my life, I don't want to live this kind of worrying life.

Sun Shao was very surprised. He glanced at the embarrassed Yu An and lowered his face: "Is there such a thing?"

Yu An didn't feel sorry for the moment, he hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Sun Shao was furious, suppressed his anger and shouted at Yu An: "Then have you ever found out that King Axum has any misconduct?"

Yu An shook his head, with a very embarrassed expression. He felt very ashamed, not to mention that he had been monitoring Valage for so long without any results, yet he was discovered and exposed in front of so many people.Now that Sun Shao is angry, it may not necessarily be because he is dissatisfied with his surveillance of Warrag, but because he is disappointed with his ability to handle affairs.Of course he couldn't push Sun Shao on the head, so he had no choice but to admit it in a big way, saying that it was his own doing.

Sun Shao was so angry that he couldn't help but order Yu An to be pulled down and beat twenty sticks.After twenty sticks, Yu An couldn't get up anymore. He gritted his teeth and kept silent. Sun Shao sullenly ordered Yu An to be deprived of his post of Marquis on the spot, and to treat crimes and meritorious service as an ordinary sergeant. Someone pulled him out.

Valage watched coldly, and was relieved to see Yu An being taken away by two sergeants. It seemed that Yu An's surveillance of him was indeed his own doing, not at the behest of Sun Shao.He thanked Sun Shao with tears of gratitude, and then went to visit Yu An hypocritically.Yu An didn't see him, but asked him to tell him to be careful not to fall into his hands.

Varag sneered, put down the gift, and walked away.After waiting for another two days, he made sure that no one was following him, and then he went out of the city through the secret passage and came to Shapur's camp.

As soon as he saw Shapur, he felt that the atmosphere was not right, and Shapur's face was so gloomy that he could drip water.

"You finally came out? I thought you'd regretted seeing us Sasanians leaving."

"Going?" Valage was taken aback: "You want to go?"

"That's right." Shapur looked at Varag for a moment, and seeing that he had no intention of deceit, he calmed down a little, and explained with some annoyance: "We just got the news that Maximus was defeated and died. The Romans have quelled the civil strife, and the situation is very unfavorable to us. We can't delay here any longer, or the country is likely to be retaliated by the Romans. What's more, the city of Axum is too strong to attack and defend the city. , we are not the opponents of Yueren, it is useless to stay here, it is better to go back earlier."

"How can you leave? You can't leave me!" Varage couldn't help shouting: "You have persisted for so long, why can't you wait a few more days."

"You haven't come out, how do we know if you still keep your promise?"

"It's not that I can't come out, I can't come out. A few days ago, a Yue army marquis has been watching me." Walag explained it again, and finally smiled triumphantly: "I just shook off this tail, In addition, I heard a message from the King of Yue. He told me that he sent people to land from the Persian Gulf to join forces with the Romans and Guishan people to attack the city of Taixifeng. He said, you will definitely not be able to capture the city of Axum, hahaha "Don't you think this sentence is ridiculous?"

Shapur frowned and laughed too.

(End of this chapter)