My XX deal with Sister Nero

"The content above... seems to be saying that they can't beat us?" Bruce picked up a few pieces of papyrus casually and took a look, frowning slightly. "According to the description above, the throne of the Parthian Empire's King of Kings, Vologases I, is currently under serious threat, so the 150,000 reinforcements he sent over are only well-equipped. According to the description above, most of the armored cavalry from Isfahan and Ctesiphon are young soldiers, and only a small number of the archers they carry can be called elite. This..."

"That's interesting, isn't it?" Tony waved his hand casually.

Chapter 467: Oh no, the performance was ruined!

An encounter, a siege, both battles ended with the retreat of the Parthian Empire, and now, Tony found something in the city, some secrets left by Tiridates.

That is, the army under Tiridates' command, apart from having better equipment, its other combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning.

If they had acted more realistically, Tony might have really believed it at this time. After all, according to the spy reports, the monarchs of several semi-independent kingdoms within the Parthian Empire were uniting to force the emperor to abdicate. So it was reasonable for Vologases I to leave elite troops to protect himself and send some young soldiers to the front line.

Well, that is if Tony doesn't know about Tiridates.

Tony couldn't say he knew much about Tiridates, but at least he knew that he was the King of Armenia handpicked by Vologases I after he made peace with the Roman Empire. How weak could such a guy be?

That's why Tony has always been wary of this guy.

Now, looking at the pages in Bruce's hands, everything made sense.

Tiridates wanted to show that the Parthian army he currently led was very weak.

Tony did not believe that there would be any young soldiers in the army that could reach the border. After all, if the border was breached by the Roman Empire, his position as Vologases I would still be unstable. Vologases I must have known this, so... the only explanation was that Tiridates was deliberately showing weakness.

But...what is his purpose in showing weakness?

Bruce is a cautious person, and Tiridates should know this. In other words, no matter whether he shows weakness or not, Bruce will advance step by step according to his own rhythm of war. In other words, Tiridates' tricks are useless to Bruce, so... what is his purpose in doing this?

It is undeniable that because all the actors under Tiridati are stars, this time... Tony was completely led into the ditch.

Tony is a time traveler with the body of a child and the soul of an adult. So far, only three people in this world know this. These three people are Tony himself, Rosa, the master of the heroic spirit Tony, and Xiao Changtian, who was brought to this world by Rosa.

So Tiridates didn't know all this, so when he was evaluating Tony, he subconsciously looked at him as a child.

Children, whether they are geniuses or not, tend to be somewhat rebellious at this age. They feel that they have grown up and should not blindly obey adults, so Tiridati developed a series of countermeasures.

According to Tiridates's plan, in the decisive battle on the plain, the armored cavalry should charge at least twice and then retreat in a defeated posture. After that, the cavalry archers would shoot arrows and retreat. When the enemy arrived at the city of Edessa, the two thousand slaves temporarily recruited would pretend to resist for a while and then disperse under the command of several middle-level generals who stayed behind to guard the rear. When the Romans entered the city, they would find the message that they had "left behind". In this way, it should not be difficult for the Romans to judge from what happened before that he, Tiridates, did not have any truly elite troops under his command!

According to the intelligence, Bruce is cautious by nature, so he will definitely not change his tactics because of these speculations, but Tony is different. Judging from the past of this prince, this prince has an unconventional way of thinking and is very bold, so he should not miss this opportunity.

However, Bruce is one of Nero's teachers. He will not blindly obey Tony like other generals. Bruce will definitely object to Tony's decision, and then the two sides are bound to conflict. Tony... will insist on his own way under the influence of rebellious psychology. If Bruce insists on not agreeing, then His Royal Highness the Prince is likely to lead part of the army to chase him. At that time, he only needs to leave some traces on the road to guide His Royal Highness the Prince into his ambush circle. With the cooperation of Angora Mainu, His Royal Highness the Prince... he is absolutely sure to capture him!

But what I didn’t expect was that the actors under my command were so good at acting!

The armored cavalry retreated after charging once, and while retreating, they also shouted something unnecessary like "The Romans are so powerful." If you were really being beaten, you would shout out such a sentence, but you have the upper hand now, brother! And what about the horse archers? Seeing the armored cavalry retreat, they naturally followed suit. After all, that's what the script says, right?

It was this battle that made Tony understand what Tiridates was planning, and the non-resistance of the city of Edessa seemed to verify this point. Now, looking at the paper in Bruce's hand, it was not difficult for Tony to infer that Tiridates was showing weakness, but he just couldn't understand why he would show weakness when he knew Bruce was cautious.

Don't you think this is a futile effort?

Well, if the other party doesn’t think so, then… I have nothing to say.

Well, anyway, just be cautious.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?" Inside the study of the governor's mansion, Bruce looked at Tony who was sitting behind the desk and asked with his head down.

"What's next? The next step is of course to order the army to take control of the surrounding villages and towns, and then... provide supplies." Tony said indifferently as he looked at the map on the table.

The so-called supply, naturally, is to let the soldiers rob food, which is the so-called plunder. Of course, according to the success of the war, plunder is also divided into certain levels, from the most brutal massacre to the lightest plunder, which is generally suffered by officials and nobles. What Tony said about supply this time is actually a polite way of saying plunder.

Of course, considering that there were almost no casualties in this siege, the Roman Empire army only plundered the original nobles and officials in the city. As for the civilians... Tony would not only not plunder, but would also order the soldiers to restrain themselves and strictly prohibit them from plundering ordinary people.

After all, this time, Tony plans to establish an outlet in the Persian Gulf.

Or to put it more bluntly, Tony intends to...completely control the Fertile Crescent!

Because of the influence of the climate and human cultivation capabilities of this era, for the Roman Empire, the Germanic region was too high in latitude to be suitable for farming. In addition, there were too many barbarians there, so the gains did not outweigh the losses. Therefore, the Roman Empire had never considered large-scale expansion there. The expansion of the Roman Empire in Africa had almost reached its limit, so... if it wanted to feed more Romans and weaken the Parthian Empire as much as possible, then it was necessary to seize the Mesopotamian region!

Chapter 468 Ramses II's Decision

According to Tony's plan, after occupying the city of Edessa, he will continue to march southeast and attack Kalha.

And Tiridates...naturally also planned to give up Karha.

Because Karha is too close to Edessa, so close that it can be described as leaving in the morning and arriving in the evening. So in terms of calculation, Karha City is also a border area, and it is not convenient to leave Prince Odney here.

After resting in Edessa for a few days, Tony also got a general understanding of the situations of the other troops.

In general, the three armies on the front line are in a state of unstoppable momentum. The Armenian side in the north has both soldiers and generals. Speaking of soldiers, it is mainly composed of the Germanic Legion and the British Legion, which is the strongest border defense force of the Roman Empire. Speaking of generals... there is no doubt about it. These two generals can be ranked among the top five generals in the Roman Empire!

With the help of the Armenian armored cavalry, they were truly unstoppable and able to advance smoothly along the way.

As for Osron, things are a little bit troublesome.

While the enemy army had just arrived and was not yet firmly established, Osron's army quickly occupied a city of the Parthian Empire, and then... nothing happened.

Although cavalry is not good at defending cities, a country like the Parthian Empire that can use cavalry in various ways is really powerful. When the Osorne Army attacked the second Parthian city, the Parthian Empire's central army almost defeated the Osorne Army with a fancy cavalry charge, so that now the Osorne Army has to passively defend and recover first.

But overall, the Roman army was in a state of unstoppable momentum. If Tiridates could not capture Tony, and if Vologases I could not resolve domestic conflicts, then the Parthian Empire might really be unable to resist the invasion of the Roman Empire.

While Tony was temporarily resting in the city of Edessa and preparing to launch a new round of attacks, on the other side, in the city of Thebes in Upper Egypt.

Thebes, the city of a hundred gates, the capital of the 27th Dynasty of Egypt... Of course, in the great earthquake in BC, this most magnificent city in Upper Egypt became a ruin. After the Roman Empire ruled Egypt, considering that there were many Egyptians living near the Thebes area, in order to facilitate its rule, the Roman Empire built a new city of Thebes next to the ruins. Today, this city has become the capital of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and its ruler is the former Sun King, the pharaoh of the th Dynasty of Egypt, Ramses II.

At this moment, our great pharaoh was sitting leisurely on his throne, supporting his noble head with his right hand, looking at the young man kneeling in the center of the hall with a playful look on his face, and asked: "So, you, the Parthian Empire, want to join forces with me?"

"Yes, honorable Pharaoh, our country's King of Kings, His Majesty Vologases I, said that as long as you are willing to join forces with my Parthian Empire, we are willing to recognize the Egyptian and Jerusalem regions as the inherent territories of the Kingdom of Egypt. We are also willing to seize these territories for the Pharaoh and hand them over to your country." The envoy from the Parthian Empire knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the marble floor and said loudly.

"Are you willing to seize these territories for my Kingdom of Egypt and then hand them over to me?" Ramses II raised his eyebrows slightly, with a strange look on his face: "Your country means that I don't have the ability to seize the Egyptian region alone, right?"

Isn't this nonsense? If you had the ability, would you be beaten like this by two legions of the Roman Empire?

However, the envoy did not say this in the end, because he knew that at this moment, the Parthian Empire needed foreign aid, foreign aid that could join forces with it and distract the Roman Empire's attention as much as possible.

Perhaps the Egyptian Kingdom was not very powerful at the moment, but their Pharaoh Ramses II was an existence that could not be ignored. Let’s not talk about how powerful he was when he was alive. Let’s just talk about the recent times. He was able to force the Roman Empire from a weak position and seize the Upper Egypt region from the Roman Empire. This was already amazing!

Moreover, in order to defeat the Parthian Empire, the Roman Empire must have mobilized the maximum number of troops it could mobilize in the country. Except for the necessary defense forces left behind on the border of the Germanic region, the Roman Empire must have been almost undefended at this moment!

Therefore, the several thousand soldiers and horses currently in Upper Egypt should be able to cause some trouble to the Roman Empire, and perhaps force the Roman troops on the front line to withdraw part of the troops, thereby easing the border pressure on the Parthian Empire.

"Why should I join forces with you?" Ramses II glanced at the envoy with disdain. Although he was a little arrogant, he had been the pharaoh for so many years, he was not stupid, and his political sense was extremely keen. An alliance with the Parthian Empire would mean that the Kingdom of Egypt would break the hard-earned peace and go to war with the Roman Empire. If it was the Parthian Empire a year ago, Ramses II might be willing to take a risk. After all, the Parthian Empire was strong at that time, and it was hard to say who would win in the end if it went to war with the Roman Empire. For the possibility of winning, Ramses II was willing to gamble and gamble on his own national destiny.

But standing in front of the Parthian Empire...an empire riddled with internal and external troubles, there was no need for me to be buried with them.

"My Kingdom of Egypt currently does not have enough troops to cooperate with the Parthian Empire in launching a war against the Roman Empire, so please go back, your Excellency." Ramses II shook his head and refused calmly.

"Your Majesty!" Hearing what Ramses II said, the envoy almost subconsciously raised his head and looked directly at Ramses II, and said loudly: "Currently, the Roman Empire has dispatched a large number of troops to the eastern frontier, and most of the remaining troops left behind are not familiar with the northern border area. Your Majesty! I have heard that the Roman Empire has stationed three legions in the Egyptian province all year round. Since the rise of your country, the Roman Empire's garrison in the Egyptian province has increased to five legions. But now, how many troops does the Roman Empire still have in the Egyptian province?"

At this point, the envoy took a deep breath and said almost word by word: "One legion. At this moment, the Roman Empire only has one legion stationed in the Egyptian province, in Alexandria! Your Majesty, this is a great opportunity for you to recover Egypt, Your Majesty!"

"And then?" Ramses II chuckled, looked at the envoy with an idiotic look, and said, "Please go back. What our country needs to do now is to recuperate, not to fight a foreign war. Therefore, I'm sorry that our country cannot form an alliance with your country."

ps: Ah... I'm a bit busy today and am outside. I took the time to write and update this chapter with my mobile phone... Ahem, there will be another chapter in the evening, but it may be very late, so everyone should go to bed early and read it tomorrow.

Chapter 469: Each Has Their Own Calculations

If we really want to say it, Ramses II was truly a man of both civil and military talents.

In terms of military power, he dared to lead his troops to fight against the Hittite Empire. In terms of civil governance... is there any need to talk about this? The 19th Dynasty of Egypt under Ramses II was the most glorious moment of the entire 19th Dynasty. Doesn't this show that he was also very good at civil governance?

So a person like him has a very long-term vision. The Parthian Empire was very strong, or even the Parthian Empire, which was riddled with internal and external troubles, was countless times stronger than the new Egyptian Kingdom. However... compared with the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire was too weak.

That’s right, the Roman Empire now has only one legion stationed in the province of Egypt, and it is only a second-line legion. If the Kingdom of Egypt takes Alexandria by surprise, it can really capture Alexandria in a very short period of time and then take control of the entire Egypt. But the question is, what happens after taking control of Egypt?

At present, Ramses II has not even completely digested Upper Egypt. Even if he annexed Lower Egypt and unified Upper and Lower Egypt, what would it matter? By then, the Roman Empire would not need to send troops at all. The rebels in the Egyptian provinces who were unwilling to obey his leadership would be enough to completely overthrow the Egyptian Kingdom.

And even if they survived the rebellion, when the Roman Empire, which had dealt with the Parthian Empire, had time to spare, would they attack Egypt? And by then, would the Kingdom of Egypt be able to resist the Roman Empire's attack?

You know, the reason why the Kingdom of Egypt can survive now is simply because Nero had to take the blame himself in order to take the blame for his brother. In addition, there is no conflict between the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt, so there is temporary peace in the Kingdom of Egypt.

Ramses II also understood this, so he took the opportunity to integrate internal affairs and digest the entire Upper Egypt region, intending to turn Upper Egypt into a true Egyptian kingdom.

If it were in EU4, it would be like Ramses II is busy building the core now, so how could he have time to care about you?

Unless you can take him flying.

But the current Parthian Empire could not do this.

"Your Majesty the Pharaoh!" Seeing the indifferent expression on Ramses II's face, the envoy suddenly shouted: "Your Majesty the Pharaoh! Your Majesty Ramses II! The reason why you are unwilling to join forces with my Parthian Empire is, in the final analysis, that you are afraid of the Roman Empire, right? I have heard that His Majesty Ramses II dared to personally lead the army to attack the Hittite Empire. I didn't expect that after dying once, His Majesty Ramses II is no longer the hero he used to be. Now he has become a coward!"

"Coward?" Hearing this word, Ramses II subconsciously raised his eyebrows, and after using his eyes to stop those who were about to draw their swords, he looked at the envoy with interest and said, "The Parthian Empire... I heard that the Parthian Empire was a powerful country in the world, several times more powerful than the Egyptian dynasty I ruled. Let me ask you, as an envoy of the Parthian Empire, when you were on a diplomatic mission to other countries, did you have a kind of natural arrogance? Do you think that except for those few countries in this world, the rest of the countries are not worth mentioning?"

"I have absolutely no such intention," said the Parthian envoy, shaking his head.

"No, no, no, that's what you mean." Ramses II stood up and looked down at the envoy. "In your eyes, no matter how powerful my Kingdom of Egypt is, it only has a glorious past. At this moment, the Kingdom of Egypt is not as good as your Parthian Empire in terms of combat effectiveness or economic capacity. Therefore, as an envoy, you dare to look down on me. Your respect and admiration are just your disguise, and just now, you tore your disguise apart."

At this point, Ramses II shook his head and said, "Forget it. Come, hang this envoy..."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Upon hearing what their Majesty meant, several palace guards immediately drew out the Egyptian scimitars hanging at their waists and approached the envoy step by step.

"Your Majesty Ramses II!" Looking at the palace guards approaching him, the envoy looked at Ramses II with horror. There has always been an ancient proverb in the East. This ancient proverb is considered by the Parthian Empire as a symbol of "civilized people" and a symbol of "great power".

When two armies are fighting, do not kill the envoys!

Even the enemy's envoys will not be easily executed. This is the style of a great country. You... We haven't even started a war yet! You still want to execute diplomats? !

"Stop talking." Ramses II waved his hand as if to shoo away a fly, and said to the palace guards, "Drag them away."

"Yes!" Under the order of Ramses II, the palace guards grabbed the hands of those who needed to be grabbed, lifted the feet of those who needed to be lifted, and carried the envoy out directly like carrying a pig.

"What about the war between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire..." Ramses II shook his head with a strange look. If the Parthian Empire could suddenly turn defeat into victory in this war, then he would not mind taking the opportunity to regain lost territory and control Upper and Lower Egypt.

Vologases I knew that the Parthian Empire could not withstand the attacks of the Roman Empire and other countries until now. In order to ensure the survival of the Parthian Empire, Vologases I had to send envoys to Egypt and the Germanic region, hoping that these enemies of the Roman Empire could unite to attack the Roman Empire and buy a little breathing time for the Parthian Empire.

But these countries all refused without exception.

While Vologases I was running around for the Parthian Empire, on the other side, after several days of rest and recuperation, Tony, who had completely digested the city, led his army to turn south and attack Sura!

"Did they find anything?" After learning that the Roman Empire attacked Sura, Tiridates' face changed subconsciously, because Sura... was still on the border between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire. Compared with Kalha, Sura was even closer to the border of the Roman Empire!

Did Bruce discover his plan? Tiridates frowned as he looked at the map of the Parthian Empire in front of him. If the other party really discovered his intention, then... he would have to readjust his strategic deployment.

Let's just wait and see what happens. Anyway, the city of Sula... will be lost sooner or later!

It has to be said that for Parthia, Sura is a city with a very important strategic position. The city's geographical location relies on the Euphrates River and is also on the border of the Roman Empire. If the Parthian Empire wants to actively attack the Roman Empire, then this city is a rare bridgehead, but if the Roman Empire attacks the Parthian Empire, then this place is also the frontier position of the Hell Roman Legion.

Of course, under the premise that Tiridates has voluntarily given up the upper part of the Mesopotamian Basin, this city is just an insignificant city.

PS: I managed to write yesterday, but after finishing, I found that the Internet at home was disconnected. It seems that there was a problem with the mobile phone... This chapter is from yesterday, and there will be two chapters today... It will be updated in the afternoon

Chapter 470: Xiao An's Suicidal Proposal

Tony suddenly turned his guns and headed south. The reason was nothing more than that he wanted to advance along the Euphrates River. After all, he said before that he was in the Mesopotamian Basin, but the Mesopotamian Basin was so wide, and his 100,000-strong army would not rely on the Tigris River or the Euphrates River. Tony's current plan was to get as close to one of the rivers as possible, and then use water transportation to let the logistics troops transport supplies to the front line by water. In this way, he could not only save a group of guards, but also avoid the Parthians using cavalry to plunder and block the supplies of the Roman Empire.

But Tiridates didn't know this, so he had to consider whether the Romans...had changed their main attack direction? Did they not plan to attack Ctesiphon anymore?

If they really don't intend to attack Ctesiphon, then wouldn't all their plans be in vain?

No, either you have to make sure first that the other party has not changed their strategic goals, or... you can only modify your own strategic goals!

Because of Tiridates's plan, there were no troops stationed in Sura anymore, so after a few days, Tony took Sura without any bloodshed.

"Your Highness, the other side... I'm afraid they have already evacuated all the garrisons in all the cities in the middle reaches of the Mesopotamian River basin." In the city of Sura, Bruce stood beside Tony and said with his head down.

"It's possible. After all, if the cavalry is not organized, it will be useless. And now Tiridates' core troops are cavalry. Cavalry guarding the city... This is a complete waste of resources. So he should have concentrated all the cavalry now. As for these cities... I think he should have abandoned them."

"In other words, he wants to exchange one battle for victory in the entire war... This guy is really a gambler." Tony shook his head.

But if you think about it carefully, for the current Parthian Empire, this may... be the most correct path.

Including its vassal states, the Roman Empire launched an army of nearly 500,000 to attack Parthia, while the Parthian Empire, for various reasons, only deployed 150,000 troops for defense. In terms of military strength, the Parthian Empire was at an overwhelming disadvantage, so it was impossible for the Parthian Empire to defeat its opponents in a steady and cautious manner as it had done before. They could only gamble and exchange the greatest victory for the smallest cost.

And the greatest victory is yourself!

Of course Tony understood his importance to Nero, and the whole world probably understood this, so... all the arrangements of the Parthian Empire were to capture him alive... right?

That's right, Tony knew that the Parthians did not dare to kill him, because once they killed him, Nero would most likely try every means to humanely destroy the entire Parthian nation.

"Your Highness... I should have guessed the other party's intention." After listening to Tony's narration, Bruce suddenly said, "Your Highness has been hanging around the border between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire. The reason why Tiridates is unwilling to confront Your Highness head-on is that if Your Highness escapes without sufficient assurance, we can retreat into the Roman Empire in a very short time. With Your Highness's reputation, I think many Roman citizens are willing to provide you with shelter. If this is the case, then Tiridates' plan to capture you alive will fail completely. Once it fails, the Parthian Empire will lose all its previous efforts. So they should want to lure Your Highness to go deeper. Only in this way can they keep Your Highness in the Parthian Empire as much as possible!"

"That's what I thought." Tony nodded. Obviously, this was the Parthian Empire's idea, but... were they underestimating themselves?

However, now that we know the other party's strategy, the next thing to do is to make corresponding countermeasures.

The corresponding policy of the Roman Empire is actually very simple. What Tiridates wants is for Tony to be as aggressive as possible, while Tony...can't he just take one step at a time and proceed steadily?

Conquer this land, then occupy and digest it, and devour the Parthian Empire step by step. What do you think Tiridates could do?

What he didn't expect was that Tiridates mistakenly thought that the Roman Empire had changed its tactics and no longer attacked Ctesiphon, so he also changed his tactics accordingly.

"You said... attack Samosata?" Tiridates glanced at Angra Mainyu standing in front of him, frowned and began to think about the feasibility of this proposal.