My XX deal with Sister Nero

"You..." The clerk opened his mouth. Originally, he just wanted to scare this guy and put a big hat on him, but he didn't expect that he would accept it!

How can people respond to this?

"So now, what are you going to do?" Iskandar asked the clerk with a playful smile on his face.

"I..." The clerk opened his mouth, and finally took two steps back, then ran towards the distant town in a panic with his two colleagues.

Although the administrative structure of the Parthian Empire was somewhat chaotic, the most basic villages and towns were no different from those in other countries. For example, the village where Iskandar was located was under the jurisdiction of a small town.

Now someone was threatening to rebel, and the three clerks in front of them knew that even if they were put together, they were no match for Iskandar, so they decisively chose to retreat and return to the town to seek help.

Generally speaking, small towns like this that are not frontier towns and have no strategic value will not deploy troops. However, considering taxation and public security issues, a small town usually has more than a dozen security soldiers responsible for maintaining public order and tax collectors. These people add up to about 20 to 30 people. I think it should be enough to deal with this strong man... Well, probably enough.

As a monarch on horseback, Iskandar certainly understood that the other party was going back for reinforcements, so he asked the village chief to go back to the village and inform everyone to return to their homes and close the doors. At the same time, he held his sword of Cyprus in one hand and sat at the entrance of the village, waiting for these guys to come back again.

These clerks didn't keep Iskandar waiting too long.

After they returned to the town, they first reported to their superiors that the village was planning a rebellion. After learning the news and confirming that there was only one person on the other side, the team leader led more than a dozen of his brothers and angrily rushed towards the village.

Chapter 450 Angola Mainu!

"A small village in the north has rebelled?" Hearing the report from his subordinates, Tiridates frowned and said with a headache, "There is a Persian rebellion in the south, and several countries in the east are instigating the residents of the eastern mountainous area to rebel. The Roman Empire's army is approaching in the west, and now there is another village rebellion in the north... Tell me, how many people are in the rebellion in the north this time?"

"General, the number of people in this rebellion is about... more than twenty people." The general answered cautiously with his head lowered.

"There are actually two... Wait a minute, what are you talking about?!" He wanted to sigh at the large number of people on the other side, but halfway through his words, Tiridati suddenly realized, more than 20 people? Just more than 20 people?

"What do you, more than twenty people, have to report to me? Just ask their town to send some troops to solve the problem. If the town does not have enough troops, transfer them from other towns. Do you have to tell me about the rebellion of more than twenty people?" Looking at this deputy general, Tiridati suspected that he had been eating too well recently and had nothing to do, so he reported the rebellion of more than twenty people to him.

"But... General, the town where this village is located sent people to suppress the rebellion. Even the city where this town is located mobilized hundreds of people to suppress the rebellion, but in the end... in the end, no one was left."

"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, a solemn look appeared on Tiridati's face: "You mean... the other side has only more than 20 people, more than 20 ordinary people, and when facing hundreds of slave soldiers, they wiped out the other side?" Tiridati touched his chin and asked uncertainly.

"Yes, General. Those slave soldiers... although they are just cannon fodder, they have received some training and are more than enough to deal with ordinary people. Moreover, their number is at least ten times that of the rebels." The general was a little confused. He really couldn't understand why they were able to be completely wiped out by the rebels when their own number, weapons and training level were far superior to those of the rebels.

Either there is some other reason, or... the commander of this rebel army is a genius!

Just as his subordinate said, the slave soldiers, or the light infantry of the Parthian Empire, although these infantrymen are consumables and cannon fodder, their equipment and training level are not comparable to that of ordinary people who can only fight with brute force. Moreover, the number of slave soldiers is at least ten times that of the rebels. What means did the rebels use to win?

"Because the leader of this rebel army is Iskandar." Just as Tiridati was thinking, a young voice suddenly came from outside the barracks gate.

"Who is it?" Almost at the same time, the sound of swords being unsheathed came from outside the gate, as if someone suddenly broke into the camp and was not discovered until he reached the door of the central military tent.

"Hmm?" Tiridates and the general standing in front of him looked at each other, then stood up and walked quickly towards the gate of the tent.

After lifting the door curtain, the scene in front of him made Tiridati subconsciously take a step back.

At first, he heard a young man talking outside the door, so he subconsciously thought that the person who was talking must be a person, a young man. But when he saw the person standing outside the door surrounded by his personal guards... this person with a human shape but only two eyes could be seen... was he really a person? Are you kidding me?

"Ah? Don't look at me like that." The shadowy figure that looked like a man smiled and said, "I know you are curious about my identity, but that's not the point. The point is that the leader of the northern rebels you mentioned is Iskandar."

"Iskander?" Tiridates was stunned at first when he heard the name, and then he seemed to have thought of something and said in shock: "Are you talking about the Alexander the Great who lived more than 300 years ago?"

Iskandar is the Arabic pronunciation of Alexander the Great. Although Arabic had not yet appeared at this time, the mother of Arabic, the Semitic language that gave birth to Arabic, still existed at this time. It was for this reason that Tiridates was able to react in a very short time that Iskandar actually referred to the monarch of the ancient Macedonian Kingdom, the King of Kings, Alexander the Great!

The title of King of Kings was first worn by Cyrus II of the ancient Persian Empire. After the Persian Empire was destroyed by Alexander the Great, Alexander the Great naturally inherited this title. After Alexander the Great died, this most honorable title in Central Asia fell to the Seleucid Empire. After the destruction of the Seleucid Empire, this title was inherited by the Parthian Empire.

Well, farther away.

If Tiridates had not heard about the resurrection of Arash before, he probably would not have been able to accept the resurrection of Alexander the Great.

But...what does the Parthian Empire think of the resurrection of Alexander the Great?

Theoretically, the Seleucid Empire was the successor to Alexander's Empire. However, when Alexander the Great died, these so-called successors did not treat his family very well. So logically speaking, Alexander the Great should not have had any good feelings towards the Seleucid Empire. The Parthian Empire destroyed the Seleucid Empire based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend... Alexander the Great should be our friend?

But no matter what, the Seleucid Empire was the successor of Alexander the Great. No matter how wrong Seleucus I had been to Alexander the Great, that was an internal matter of their empire, and the Parthian Empire... it was an invader. So from this perspective, the Alexander Empire should not form an alliance with themselves?

After standing at the door of the tent and thinking carefully for a long time, Tiridati suddenly looked up at the guy in front of him and asked with some doubt: "Speaking of which... who are you? How do you know all this?"

"Ah? Me?" The shadowy young man shrugged and said, "Actually, I'm not a famous guy, but the people in my village used a ceremony to transform me into another person... Well, you can call me Angora Mainyu, or you can call me Ahriman."

"Angora Mainyu?!" Although the Parthian Empire did not believe in Zoroastrianism, Tiridates, as a native Parthian, had heard some stories about Zoroastrianism.

For example... Zoroastrianism is a typical dualistic religion. Zoroastrians believe that there are two gods in this world, one is the good god Ahura Mazda, and the other is the evil god Angra Mainyu!

Chapter 451: Angola Mainyu's Plan

The god of evil, Angra Mainyu!

Hearing this name, Tiridati subconsciously took half a step back. Even Arash could appear, and the true God came, this... was not impossible.

"Don't look at me like that." Seeing Tiridati's surprised and wary expression, Angra Mainyu shrugged and said, "I know what you are thinking. Don't worry, I am not the true god of evil. I am just given this name. Strictly speaking, I am the same as Iskandar. According to your understanding... I can be regarded as a resurrected dead soul."

"The resurrected dead..." After hearing this, Tiridates breathed a sigh of relief. Although the resurrected dead were still difficult to deal with, they were still easier to deal with than gods, right?

"Then... you came to me, I guess it's not just to tell me that the bandit leader is Alexander the Great, right?"

"Of course." Angola Mainu clapped his hands gently. "I'm not telling you this simply to reveal information to you."

At this point, Angola Mainyu subconsciously raised his head slightly, as if looking into the distance, and said with a dazed look in his eyes: "My wish is just to witness and see this world."

Angra Mainyu, the evil of this world, the avenger, was born in a small Zoroastrian village. Originally, this young man was just an ordinary and ordinary young man. Until one day, in order to prove that all people have good nature, the villagers named this young man the evil god Angra Mainyu by the ignorant villagers and made him bear all the sins of the world.

"Our lives have not improved because of the existence of evil."

For the ignorant and Zoroastrian villagers, when they found that their own hands could not bring any improvement to their lives, they naturally thought that it was because there was a being in the village who represented "evil", that is, the young man named "Angola Mainyu". So, the villagers vented all their grievances on him.

He was imprisoned on the top of a mountain, and then his right eye was dug out, his hands and feet were cut off, and he was tortured with contempt as an absolute evil. After being sacrificed for several years, he hated the people in the village, but later he accepted humans because he didn't know who to hate. His hatred went beyond emotion and became a character. Since then, the legend of "the evil god living on the top of the mountain" has spread in his village.

After experiencing all the pain that a human being could feel, the young man died as a matter of course. However, the hatred he felt for this absurd situation was deeply engraved in this rock prison, and he turned into a nameless ghost.

Initially, he hated humans, but because he didn't know who to hate, this hatred was distorted into his own character... or in other words, he himself had the attribute of special attack against humans.

As an ordinary person, even after becoming a Heroic Spirit, his combat power is extremely weak, so weak that he is only slightly stronger than ordinary people. However, such a Heroic Spirit who can almost be said to be the weakest in history has special attacks against humans. If the enemy is humans, then he... will never lose!

"See this world..." Tiridates breathed a sigh of relief. If it was really the God of Evil, let alone him, with the power of God, it would be possible for the entire western border of the Parthian Empire to become a hell, right? But since he wanted to see this world and came to this military camp, then...

"Angora Mainyu... Can I call you that? If... I say if, you really want to see this world, then... I'm afraid there's nothing good to see in this world, because... the Parthian Empire is about to disappear." Tiridates said with a bitter smile on his face.

"Huh? The Parthian Empire is going to disappear?" Angra Mainyu asked in surprise.

Although Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire and brought the entire Central Asia into the Hellenistic era, and also suppressed Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism still has many believers in some remote villages, such as the most typical one, which is the village where Angra Mainyu lived.

When Angra Mainyu was still alive, which was about a hundred years ago, the Parthian Empire was at its peak. Surena, a famous general of the Parthian Empire, defeated Crassus, one of the three Roman giants, and thwarted the Roman Empire's conspiracy to attack the Parthian Empire. It was the most prosperous era of the Parthian Empire both in terms of territory and prestige.

How long has it been since then? How come the Parthian Empire is "about to disappear"?

"It's nothing, actually. It's just that the Parthian Empire has been in a state of internal and external troubles recently. In the east, it is oppressed by the Yuezhi and the Sulen family, and in the west, it is facing an attack from the Roman Empire. The Parthian Empire... I'm afraid it won't be able to hold on for much longer." Tiridates shook his head bitterly.

"Oh? Really?" Angra Mainu looked at Tiridati meaningfully. Such poor acting skills... It was simply unbearable to watch.

That's right, Angra Mainyu was just an ordinary person when he was alive, but he was not a fool. He certainly understood that Tiridates said all this nonsense because he saw his ability and wanted to ask him to help the Parthian Empire get through this difficult time.

"Of course!" Tiridati continued to nod with a bitter expression.

Although I don't know how powerful this young man is, but... as an undead, he should be able to play a certain role, right? For example... hiding his body and exploring the movements of the Roman Empire's army.

"I see. You... want me to help you, right?" Angola Mainyu smiled indifferently. "If it's just to help, I have no problem with that."

"That...that's great!" Seeing that Angra Mainyu agreed, Tiridates' eyes lit up. He immediately called a subordinate and asked him to set up a small tent for Angra Mainyu next to his central military tent.

Only Tiridati was innocent because he was ignorant. He only knew a little bit about Angola Mainyu. If someone else, such as Tony, who knew that Angola Mainyu once hated humans, stood here, he would not dare to say anything about setting up a tent for Angola Mainyu next to his own central military tent.

What if someone gets up in the middle of the night and stabs you, who can you cry to?

But... Angra Mainyu didn't think much about killing Tiridates. Now, he just wanted to use the Parthian army as a springboard to get in touch with Tony. After all... this legendary Prince Odeni seemed interesting.

PS: Ah... I had a cold yesterday and my head was aching. At around 9 o'clock, I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to take a nap and get up to write. I ended up sleeping until morning... I feel much better now and will continue writing.

Chapter 452: Prelude to War

"The Parthian Empire has assembled about 200,000 troops on the border, including 130,000 horse archers and 20,000 armored cavalry."

As soon as Tony arrived in Samosata City, he heard a general coming to Tony's carriage and reporting to him.

"130,000 horse archers and 20,000 armored cavalry..." Upon hearing such a force, Tony frowned subconsciously. This... might not be the main force of the Parthian Empire!

As mentioned before, the main military branch of the Parthian Empire was cavalry, and moreover, cavalry archers and armored cavalry. The armored cavalry was mainly composed of nobles or branches of nobles. After all, both the people and the horses were covered in armor... Only wealthy nobles could afford such a luxurious move.

The horse archers were the people under the command of these nobles. Although horses were not very valuable in the Parthian Empire, they were definitely not something that slaves could afford to support.

As for the infantry... couldn't we just grab some slaves to serve as cannon fodder?

Therefore, in many cases, the Roman Empire could completely judge whether the Parthian Empire had sent out its main forces based on the ratio of the opponent's troops.

For example, now there are 20,000 armored cavalry and 150,000 horse archers. It is obvious that the main force of the Parthian Empire is here.

But the question is, what should Tony do next?

Although Tony has an army of 400,000 under his command, these 400,000 soldiers are a typical Roman army, a Roman army composed mainly of heavy infantry, and the cavalry... there are only a small number of light cavalry, which add up to less than 30,000.

Even if 30,000 cavalrymen were gathered together, they would not be enough to defeat Parthia. After all, the Parthian Empire was famous for its cavalry. Even now, under Tony's instructions, the Roman Empire began to gradually pay attention to cavalry... The cavalry of the Roman Empire was no match for the Parthian cavalry.

The simplest understanding is that when Tony played Rome Total War in his previous life, he was able to break through a Roman infantry formation of 10,000 people with just a few hundred Parthian armored cavalry. But on the other hand, if he used a few hundred Roman general guards to charge the formation... forget it.

Well, whether it is a game or in reality, the Roman Empire's cavalry is generally inferior to the Parthian cavalry.

And how can the heavy infantry remain undefeated in a battle against the Parthian cavalry on the plains?

Along the way, Tony also read a large number of classic battles of the Parthian Empire and gained a general understanding of the tactics of the Parthian Empire.

In fact, the tactics of the Parthian Empire were very monotonous. For example, in the Battle of Carrhae, the Parthian Empire first used Parthian retorts to continuously harass the tortoise formation formed by the Roman heavy armored infantry. When Crassus could not help but mobilize a thousand Gallic cavalry to attack the Parthian army, the Parthian archers retreated first, and then the armored cavalry stepped forward, raising dust and forcing the thousand Gallic cavalry to gather together, and then they were shot and killed by the archers behind the armored cavalry.

Of course, these European barbarians did live up to their title of barbarians. When the horse archers finished a round of arrows and the armored cavalry came forward to reap heads, these Gauls were also extremely brave. Those with horses continued to charge on horseback, and those without horses also charged on foot. In short, the Gauls did whatever it took to kill the Parthian cavalry. However, individual bravery was no match for the united fighting of the Parthians. In the end, this 1,000-man Gallic cavalry was completely wiped out, and Crassus' son Crassus the Younger was also killed on the spot.

The Parthians then began their classic tactics.

First they used the arrows of the horse archers to weaken the Roman line, then used the heavy cavalry to charge, and repeated this for a day. Finally, the Roman defense line was riddled with holes. If the Parthians had not disliked fighting at night, the Romans would probably never have been able to escape the desert and return to Carrhae.

Then... Crassus was surrounded and killed by Surena in the city of Carrhae.

If you want to defeat the Parthian cavalry in a single battle, it is very difficult. After all, no matter how powerful your infantry is, they are no match for the cavalry on the plains. Not to mention anything else, the harassment from the cavalry archers is enough to cause you a lot of trouble.

But... can the outcome of the war with the Parthian Empire really be decided by a single battle?

Yes, the Battle of Kalai could be considered a war where the outcome was decided by a single battle, but... it was only that one battle.

However, Tony is a modern man, and he has a bit of modern pride. If possible, he hopes that he will not fail in any battle, even if he has to lead a group of infantry to attack cavalry.

When it comes to how to restrain cavalry, Tony can immediately think of tripwires and halberds, in addition to these, there are also various traps.

"Okay, then... let's show weakness first." Tony took a deep breath, stood on the city wall and looked at the Parthian Empire in the distance. His fingers tapped the arrow slits rhythmically, and suddenly said, "By the way, how is the situation in Osron?"

"Your Highness, the Kingdom of Osron has completely occupied the entire territory of the Kingdom of Adiabena. Currently, the royal family of the Kingdom of Adiabena has fled to the Parthian Empire." A young man wearing typical Roman general's armor said next to Tony.

This young man, who looked no more than two years older than Tony, was Vespasian’s eldest son Titus.

"Really..." Tony touched his nose and muttered, "Even now, the Parthian Empire has not responded at all. It seems that... the Kingdom of Adiabene has been abandoned by the Parthian Empire... In other words, the initiative of the war is now in the hands of the Roman Empire..." After thinking for a while, Tony suddenly pointed to a small village in the distance and said, "That village... should be a village in the territory of the Parthian Empire, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness. This piece of woods is the border between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire, and that village is indeed located in the Parthian Empire." Titus looked carefully at the village that Tony pointed to and replied.

"Well... send someone to harass them tonight. Remember, don't attack civilians. You are only allowed to rob their property. I want to see how the Parthians will react after I've done that to them."

"Yes, Your Highness." Titus nodded.

His Royal Highness's meaning was very simple. The Roman Empire had not declared war before, and there was no clear statement that the war between the Kingdom of Osron and the Kingdom of Adiabene was instigated by the Roman Empire. Under such internal and external troubles, the Lopata Empire naturally adopted the attitude of "less trouble is more", and on the one hand, it was actively preparing for war, and on the other hand, it did not take the initiative to provoke the Roman Empire. But now, the army of the Roman Empire has been assembled, and the purpose of assembling such a large army is naturally not for a picnic!

Chapter 453: A Clash of Strategies

Tony was testing, testing the bottom line of the Parthian Empire.

The Parthian Empire was now caught in a situation of internal and external troubles, and that was why they were so passive towards the Roman Empire. Even though the Kingdom of Osron annexed the Kingdom of Adiabene with the secret support of the Roman Empire, as long as this matter was not brought to the surface, the Parthian Empire would act as if nothing had happened and would not take action against the Kingdom of Osron or the Roman Empire.

And now, the Roman Empire's 400,000 troops have been assembled. Tony is going to conduct a second round of tests. If I directly attack your Parthian Empire, can you still sit still?

If you can still sit still, then... just ignore what I said.

Raiding a village does not require much technical content. After all, this village is right under the nose of the Roman Empire. As a qualified general, Tiridates would not blatantly deploy troops under the enemy's nose, so this village is basically undefended.

In addition, the people in the village are ordinary people who are not sensitive to military developments. So until now, they don’t know that the Roman Empire in front of them has assembled 400,000 troops on the border, ready to attack Parthia at any time!

After taking a nap and having dinner in the city, Tony saw that it was almost dark, so he sent someone to call Titus and asked him to lead 300 cavalrymen to raid the small village opposite.

To be honest, sending 300 cavalrymen to attack a small village was a bit of an overkill, but what if? What if Tiridates had ambushed in that village? You know, Titus could be said to be a horse monarch, the third generation of the Flavian dynasty, and besides Vespasianus, he was the best fighter.

As for his younger brother Domitian... Domitian was less than four years old at that time, what do you expect him to do?

Well, in short, Titus cannot die, at least not now. When Titus grows up a little bit, he can become the leader of the young faction of the imperial military and Tony's right-hand man.

The current famous generals of the Luo Empire are basically all over 45 years old. After they pass away in a few decades, someone will have to take over and guard the borders of the empire, right?