A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Ctesiphon was the capital of the Sasanian Empire!

Without Ardashir's command, the Sasanian army, which had just experienced a period of turmoil, was a disorganized mess.

It simply cannot effectively deter war.

To put it bluntly, Ardashir's reason for continuing the army's march toward Ctesiphon was simply to deceive others.

It can be said that Ardashir has almost abandoned Ctesiphon, the capital.

If he and Tyredatus could quickly defeat the Han army and lead their elite troops on a rapid raid, and if Ctesiphon's army could hold off Dong Zhuo's attack for another month, he could manage to cover both fronts.

If the capital of a newly established empire were to fall, Emperor Ardashir I would be forever condemned to the pillory of history.

Moreover, the morale of the entire country would plummet. The new regime was already unstable, not to mention that Ardashir had murdered the emperor and established himself as a nobleman.

It could even cause internal turmoil in the country, leading to the direct disintegration of the empire.

Ardashir, this is absolutely a huge gamble!

A high-stakes gamble that puts the very life and death of his newly established empire at stake!

Even Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Wei Pan did not anticipate Ardashir's move.

It was precisely because of this unexpected move that Yuan Shao and Wei Pan were caught off guard.

The allied forces led by Yuan Shao suffered heavy losses, with casualties exceeding 10. They would be unable to effectively stop the attack on the Sasanian Empire for at least several years and could only passively defend their current territory.

Tiridates led his army to ambush Wei Pan, but his military capabilities were ultimately no match for Ardashir's.

The Wei family were also the ancestors of ambushes. The first lesson in military education for all generations of Wei family descendants was to accept all kinds of strange and cunning ambushes set up by their elders.

Therefore, they have an extremely keen sense of how to deal with various ambushes, and their methods of dealing with ambushes are incredibly diverse. The ambush by Tyredatus was child's play for them.

Wei Pan casually opened a pocket formation and swallowed up Tyridates' army.

If they can gain the advantage of an ambush, Tyridatus's 10-strong army can still have a significant impact.

But without the ambush bonus, the plan could be seen through in advance and someone could turn the tables on them.

Swallowing this army of 10 is not much more difficult than making dumplings.

Tiridates' 10-strong army was completely annihilated, while Wei Pan's army suffered fewer than 1 casualties.

Even in a direct confrontation, these 10 troops are the most elite forces of the Sasanian Empire, and they can definitely inflict great losses on Wei Pan. In a 1:1 situation, they can even achieve a 1:10 loss ratio.

Unfortunately, by choosing the ambush method that the enemy was most skilled at, they didn't even make a ripple.

Upon discovering Tiridates, Wei Pan immediately thought of Ardashir's plan, and even he had to admit Ardashir's boldness and decisiveness.

After glancing at a military map, Wei Pan immediately determined the most suitable location to ambush Yuan Shao.

It's too late to get there now; Ardashir will surely retreat quickly, catch up with the main force, and try to save Ctesiphon.

A man like him would not hesitate for a moment upon learning of Tyredas's defeat; he would immediately abandon him.

Then he will definitely retreat from here!

Wei Pan's hand stopped at a location on the map.

Susia, one of the major cities in the eastern part of the Sasanian Empire, was once a key military stronghold in the protracted war between the Parthian Empire and the Han Empire, and also a necessary route for Ardashir to retreat to Ctesiphon.

Wei Pan clearly remembered that the Han Empire and the Parthian Empire had fought a protracted war here. Apart from Susia City, all the suitable ambush locations had been used by both sides.

Using this location for an ambush is virtually an impossible task.

"Like catching a turtle in a jar!"

Wei Pan was going to take a gamble; he was betting that Alcidar would keep it a secret.

He and Tyrion's ambush plan was kept secret from everyone except their own army and a few individuals within it.

All the major cities along the way were kept completely hidden. After fighting for so long, both sides had planted countless spies and informants under each other's command.

If they leaked their plan to the garrison of these cities, the ambush would definitely be discovered by the Han Dynasty in advance.

Therefore, Wei Pan was certain that the people of Susia City had no idea about the ambush by Ardashir.

He could then use this information gap, along with the remnants of Tyredatus's army, to blow open the city gates.

Susia City was, after all, a major military stronghold, and even he couldn't guarantee that no soldiers would escape.

But because of this bad news, after these remnants escape, they will definitely head in the direction the main force left, hoping to find Ardashir there to report back.

This way, they won't run into the real Ardashir, and he can lie in wait in Sussia and catch them like a fish in a jar!

Wei Pan selected tens of thousands of native local soldiers from his ranks, dressed them in Sasanian uniforms, and arranged for a surrendered Sasanian general to lead this disguised army, thus tricking the city gates into opening.

Tiridates was a trusted and beloved general of Ardashir, and his strength was extraordinary. He truly rose to power through his own abilities and made great contributions when Ardashir was on the villain's side.

The border cities of Susia dared not offend such a central figure, so after verifying his identity, they opened their city gates and welcomed him in.

However, when they opened the city gates, they had a question: where was the leader of this army, Tyridatus?

The mention of Tyrion immediately brought tears to the eyes of the leading general.

"The general, the general led his personal guards to cover our retreat."

"We urgently request that your city allocate a force to us so that we can return to reinforce the general!"

The general guarding the city gate's eyes lit up. Tyridates was now in danger.

This is good news for them.

They were just worried about the major changes in the central government and not having a chance to curry favor with those in the central leadership. Now that they have this good opportunity, shouldn't they seize it?

The general smiled broadly and said, "Brothers, you've all worked hard and are injured. You should rest well first."

"We will immediately defect our troops to that place and rescue General Tiridates!"

The general who surrendered was speechless; there were even people eager to send him forward.

How can a country be governed well when surrounded by these insects?!

His decision to abandon darkness and embrace light was indeed the right one!