My XX deal with Sister Nero

The Parthian Empire was called an empire, but in fact it was a powerful nomadic state with a loose domestic organization. In addition to the 19 provinces of the empire, there were 18 vassal states. The Parthian emperor at this time was Vologases I, who had just ascended the throne and was ambitious.

Speaking of this emperor, we have to talk about Armenia.

Armenia in this world has fought against the Roman Empire many times. Although both sides had wins and losses in the early stages, the Roman Empire later turned the tables. After the defeat, Armenia reluctantly became one of the vassal states of the Roman Empire.

And what about Armenia? Their attitude towards the Roman Empire has always been to cater to the empire on the surface, but in fact they are secretly mixed with Parthia.

After Vologases I ascended the throne, he gave Armenia, which was "a vassal state of the Roman Empire in name only but a vassal state of the Parthian Empire in reality", to his younger brother Tiridates. Then, in order to make his brother's country independent from the Roman Empire, Armenia, with the secret help of Parthia, united with Thrace and other kingdoms to launch a rebellion against the Roman Empire.

Now, although a fierce civil war broke out within the Parthian Empire, due to the loose domestic organization of this nomadic regime, this seemingly massive civil war did not actually shake the foundation of the Parthian Empire. This can be seen from the fact that the Parthian Empire still had the energy to secretly plan and command the attack on the Roman Empire.

The attack on Armenia could only be considered a "local war" at best for the Roman Empire, but now, if he had to go to war with a superpower like the Parthian Empire, Nero had to think carefully about how to deal with it.

"This matter... is troublesome." Tony frowned and fell into deep thought.

Although the Parthian Empire is now in the midst of a civil war, if it really comes into direct conflict with the Roman Empire because of this, they will most likely give up the civil war and unite their forces to defend against the Roman Empire, just like the first Ethiopian Anti-Italian War that took place in Africa in 1890 two thousand years later, when lords of all sizes united their forces, pushed back against Italy despite being completely inferior in weapons and other aspects, and won this anti-aggression war.

After all, not everyone is Lord Kaishen who believes that "pacifying the country before fighting foreign enemies" is the right path.

But now, intelligence has come from the front that Parthia has instigated Armenia and other countries to launch this rebellion, causing almost the entire Asia Minor Peninsula to fall into a war. Faced with such a situation, if the Roman Empire does not do something, then the surrounding barbarians, and even the vassal states that have already surrendered, may have some inappropriate thoughts deep in their hearts.

The intervention of Parthia temporarily slowed down the pace of the series of power seizure actions that were about to begin. The Senate and the Emperor joined hands and prepared to fight the foreign enemy seriously.

"Your Majesty, we think that Your Majesty should integrate the army, occupy the Kingdom of Thrace, make it a province of the empire, and then quickly suppress those Pontic people who have raised the flag of rebellion. After that, start from the Anatolian Peninsula and occupy the whole of Armenia. After that, the empire will completely border Parthia, and then plan to attack Parthia!" A middle-aged elder said indignantly in the hall.

"We are going to fight for sure. This tone can be completely determined, but the question is, how should we fight?" Tony sat upright in his chair, glanced at the elder who was speaking, and spoke casually.

Although the Roman Empire does not want to cause trouble now, but you, Parthia, have bullied me. If I don't react, that would be unreasonable, right?

"I suggest gathering the national army near the Balkans, and then drawing nine joint legions from the country to form an army of 200,000 to attack Parthia. This should be able to settle the war!" said the young senator Pasu in a deep voice.

"Two hundred thousand?" Even Tony couldn't help but be surprised when he heard the number.

As mentioned before, the Roman Empire was different from the Central Plains dynasties. It was not the kind of tycoon that was embarrassed to go out if it couldn’t gather hundreds of thousands of troops during the Warring States Period. An army of 200,000 could be considered a huge investment by the Roman Empire!

"But, as far as I know, the Parthian Empire does not have a standing army. Once a war breaks out, they often directly mobilize the nobles and let these military nobles lead their own serfs to fight. At the same time, they recruit mercenaries and combine them with these military nobles to form combat forces. We... have no way of knowing how large the enemy's troops will be." Tony said after thinking for a while.

In his previous life, Tony had only a vague knowledge of history, and he only learned about the Parthian Empire from games. He had no idea how big the territory was, how many people there were, how many troops there were, these basic things. At first he thought that he did not understand it comprehensively enough, until he came to this world, he realized that it was not his fault.

Parthia was a nomadic regime with a loose domestic structure and countless military nobles of all sizes. Some of them might have only a few serfs under their command, while others might have thousands or even tens of thousands of serfs under their command. Not to mention Tony, even the emperor of Parthia might not know how many subjects he had under his command.

This is the danger of not conducting a census!

Then again, the main force of the Roman Empire's army was composed of group infantry, while that of the Parthian Empire was heavy cavalry. On the battlefield, cavalry is stronger than infantry, which is an unchanging truth since ancient times. This is why, since the first century BC, the Roman Empire has been fighting against the Parthian Empire, and the battles have always been evenly matched. Even with its strong military and economic power, it could only weaken the Parthian Empire.

It is very difficult to defeat the enemy's powerful heavy cavalry.

After determining the number of troops, the only thing left is to decide who to send as the leader.

"I propose to send Tony to fight." Just when Tony was thinking about how to defeat Parthia, he suddenly heard Nero beside him utter these light words.

"...Meow meow meow?" Tony looked confused.

Stop, stop, stop! Although my mind is full of fancy moves, I am not a serious general! No matter how bad Zhao Kuo is, he can still talk about war on paper, but I can't even talk about war on paper!

"Your Majesty, forgive me for being frank... it seems inappropriate for His Royal Highness to take command. Although His Royal Highness has successfully slayed a dragon in Britain and is a true dragon-slaying hero, being a dragon-slaying hero does not necessarily mean being able to fight, right? I'm afraid that handing the lives of two hundred thousand soldiers over to a child..." The second elder Vanore stood up and looked at Tony and Nero with a gloomy face. Although he did not say anything, Tony could guess with his big toe that the second half of Vanore's unspoken sentence was definitely not a good thing!

"I think it's possible. My brother is a dragon slayer hero. With a dragon slayer leading the troops, the morale of the soldiers will definitely be very high. On the other hand, if the enemy learns that their opponent is a dragon slayer hero, their morale will definitely drop. As for commanding the army... we can totally appoint a general who comes from the military to command it, and my brother only needs to be in figurehead position." Nero shrugged and said indifferently.

No matter which world it is, people worship the strong. This world is the same. If someone can slay a dragon, then naturally there will be many people worshipping him. Correspondingly, if you become an enemy of this powerful dragon-slaying hero, then the opponent's morale will surely be lowered before the fight even starts.

To put it bluntly, Tony is a flag, a mascot. Even if he does not command the battle, as long as he stands there, it is a deterrent to the enemy!

I am not strong enough to destroy the entire army, but I can take the general's head in the midst of thousands of troops... Haha, no matter how strong you are, can you be stronger than a dragon?

So this is why, no matter how much the Roman Empire hated and loathed Martha, it did not dare to do anything to her.

But the difference is that it was actually Zero who slayed the dragon on Tony's side, but everyone mistakenly thought that it was Tony who did it, while Martha...she really defeated the dragon, and now Tarasque is still following her wholeheartedly.

"This is a good idea..." Vanore looked at Tony meaningfully and sat down slowly.

He could accept that the prince was nominally in charge.

Now the question is, the commander-in-chief has been decided, but what about the deputy commander-in-chief? Who will be the deputy commander-in-chief in charge of commanding the army?

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PS1: Thanks to Bell_Robert for the reward, and thanks to Control Loli Pegasus for the reward and blade~

PS2: This book lost more than collections on the first day it was released. This is a bit true.

Chapter 88: Taking Command

Now Tony is the head coach, which is basically a foregone conclusion. He is a flag, a flag with the words "dragon slaying hero" written on it. His mission is to serve as such a mascot and such a flag. He may have a certain influence on the army, but after all, he cannot command battles, so this influence is very limited.

The Senate also understands that the deputy commander of the army is the key!

If it is managed properly, the 200,000-strong army could very likely be controlled by the Senate!

"My fellow elders, now we have reached a consensus that we must teach Parthia a severe lesson, right?" At this moment, Tony suddenly spoke, glanced at the elders present, and said calmly.

"That's right! It would have been fine if we didn't know, but now we know that Parthia is behind Armenia's betrayal. If we don't take any action, won't we be laughed at by the world?" said a young veteran indignantly.

"That's right." Tony nodded and said, "If Parthia wants to attack our country, there are only two options. One is to cross the Euphrates River from the south to attack the Jewish province. However, the Roman Empire army controls almost all the crossings of the Euphrates River in the empire. If they want to attack, they will definitely pay a huge price, so high that the corpses may block the Euphrates River. Elders, am I right?"

"Yes."

In the meeting hall, the elders looked at each other and said.

"So, since they can't cross the Euphrates River, the only way is to attack from the direction of Armenia. The Parthian army is mainly composed of heavy cavalry. No matter how difficult it is to walk in the mountains, it is better than crossing the Euphrates River, right?" Tony smiled and said.

"That's right. It is indeed the right choice for Parthia to attack from Armenia." Vanore said in a deep voice.

Tony stood up, straightened his clothes, and said, "There is an old saying in the East that food and fodder must be sent before troops move. I don't know how much food and fodder are needed to feed 200,000 soldiers and horses, but I do know one thing. It will take a lot of time to gather 200,000 troops and prepare enough food and fodder for 200,000 troops for a certain period of time. Then, we have to destroy the Thracian Kingdom and quell the rebellion of the Pontic people. I think... it will take quite some time to do all these things, right?"

"Yes..." Vanore nodded. Although he didn't want to admit it, Tony was not wrong. The logistics of the 200,000-strong army needed to keep up, and... a lot of time was needed to quell the rebellions in Thrace and Pontus before they could march into Armenia and fight a decisive battle with the Parthian Empire.

"So, before we march into Armenia, what we need to do is to try every possible way to delay Parthia, paralyze them in the name of peace talks, and ultimately... take the initiative of the war into our own hands." Tony said with a smile.

"This..." The elders present couldn't help but look at each other, with deep shock in their eyes.

How long had it been since the Senate and the Imperial Palace received the information at almost the same time? This young prince... actually came up with a very reasonable solution?

Although it is not known how feasible this method is at this moment, it at least sounds reasonable.

“Brother…” Not to mention the elders, even Nero was shocked. He didn’t expect that his younger brother was actually a genius?

"Then, little prince, who should we find to be the diplomat to slow down the Parthian offensive and buy enough time for our army?" At this time, Vanore finally stopped despising the young man in front of him. He knew that this young man was now qualified to negotiate terms with them at the same table.

Tony smiled, looked at the Senate with an idiotic look, and asked, "Ladies and Gentlemen, do you know about the war on the Parthian border? Can you grasp the dynamics of Parthia in a timely manner? In other words... the entire Asia Minor Peninsula is now in the midst of war. Why don't we appoint Domitius, the Governor of Asia, to organize an army to quell the riots in Pontus before organizing an army? As for the negotiations... naturally, they will be handed over to Domitius. Even if we want to break the contract at that time, the Roman side can directly blame Domitius and say that the peace treaty he negotiated was not reported to the Empire and we don't recognize it."

This kind of blame-shifting is actually very common in the East, but in the West, such a strategy is relatively rare.

After all, apart from Parthia, what was there to be proud of about the barbarians around the Roman Empire? The Roman Empire simply pushed forward without any tricks.

“But, in this case, Domitius…” Although Senator Vettori did not finish his words, everyone knew that in this case, Domitius would certainly be dissatisfied with the treacherous order of the Roman central government. As for the governors of other provinces, it would be okay as they were all just spectators watching the show, and at most they would shout 666 for Tony’s amazing move. But Domitius was different. On this stage, he played the role of a scapegoat. He had tried his best to negotiate peace for the empire, but in the end he had to take the blame inexplicably. Even if he agreed, he would probably feel uncomfortable, right?

Tony sighed and looked at the elders of the Senate with a desperate look: "After the war, you can just find a reason to reward Domitius. Wouldn't that make everyone happy?"

After hearing these words, the elders' eyes lit up like light bulbs!

While the empire assembled an army of 200,000 to pacify Thrace, Domitius was also authorized to control the armies of twelve provinces or regions in the Anatolian Peninsula and Syria. While suppressing the rebellion of the Pontic people, he could resist the attacks of the Armenians and try his best to limit the war to the three Senate provinces of Pontus, Galatia, and Cilicia.

By taking a two-pronged approach and solving the internal problems of the empire, the Roman Empire could unite its forces in the shortest possible time, attack Armenia, and then... defeat Parthia!

"Brother...you are so awesome." After figuring it all out, Nero was full of admiration.

"But the question is back to the original point. Who will be the deputy commander of this army of 200,000?" An elder with a scar on the corner of his mouth said expressionlessly.

"Vespasianus." Tony said in a deep voice.

"Vespasianus? This..." Upon hearing this name, the elders couldn't help but look at each other in confusion.

Vespasian, also known as Vespasian, was indeed a powerful general of the empire. None of the senators would deny this. After all, when he went on the expedition to Britain, Vespasian's record was there and could not be refuted.

But the problem is that when Nero held a concert not long ago, Vespasian fell asleep and was expelled. Fearing revenge from the emperor, Vespasian simply slipped away and then... his whereabouts are unknown.

As a man from the future, Tony only knew roughly that Vespasian had fled Rome and his whereabouts were unknown. When he came out again, it was already 63 AD when he became the governor of Africa.

As for where Weipasian had been and what he had experienced in the past ten years, Tony really didn't know.

Seeing everyone looking at her strangely, Nero couldn't help but blush. She coughed lightly and said, "This... can't be blamed on me, right? Who made him fall asleep while I was singing..."

"Sister, now is not the time for us to pursue this. I think we should issue an order in the name of the Senate to find Vespasian and appoint him as the deputy commander of this Eastern Expeditionary Force." Tony said with a wry smile.

"Eh? Why is it in the name of the Senate?" Nero looked confused.

"Ahem, sister, after all, Vespasianus is afraid of you now. If the order is given in your name, I'm worried that Vespasianus will not come out..." Tony was a little embarrassed.

"Emmmm, brother, sometimes we can be more tactful when we talk." After thinking for two seconds, Nero's face turned a little red.

Will the Senate agree with Vespasian?

The answer is yes.

Tony knew that the Senate would not reject his proposal!

Vespasian was an expert in war, as he had demonstrated during the expedition to Britain. No one present would dispute his command and combat abilities. In other words, in terms of ability, Vespasian was qualified to serve as deputy commander of this new Eastern Legion.

And Vespasian, not long ago, fell asleep during Nero's solo concert and was angrily expelled from the concert by Nero. This meant that there was a certain degree of conflict between the two men. In Vespasian's eyes, Nero might be a narrow-minded person. If he did not have such an idea, Vespasian could have chosen to find Nero to admit his mistake and apologize after the concert instead of secluding himself to prevent revenge from the emperor.

A powerful general who has a conflict with Your Majesty, can't such a person be used for your own purposes with just a little bit of trickery?

"If we were to come forward, I think General Vespasian would be able to... ahem, would be able to understand, right?" Vanore coughed lightly and looked at Nero somewhat unnaturally.

His Majesty Nero's beautiful singing voice, well, basically everyone present had heard it.

"That's because you don't understand art." Nero said with a frown, looking at the unnatural expressions of the elders.

"Yes, yes, the elders don't understand art." Seeing that Nero was ready to sing a song to make the elders understand what art is, Tony quickly stood up to smooth things over.

Just kidding, guys, if you want to die, don't drag me into this.

"Let's talk business first." After smoothing things over, Tony cleverly chose to change the subject.

"Now that the commander and deputy commander of the legion have been determined, the next step is to choose the legion to be mobilized and prepare the logistical supplies needed for the 200,000-strong army." Vanore glanced at Tony and said.

Tony had no say in the professional matters of mobilizing the army and preparing logistical supplies. After a day of discussion, the Senate decided that the Germans would be the leaders and assemble twenty united legions to form a new "Eastern Legion". At the same time, they would raise food and fodder in Italy and the Balkan Peninsula in preparation for an expedition to Parthia!

PS1: I typed until four o'clock last night. This is what I coded last night, and then... I went out to buy some rice and came back to prepare dinner.

PS2: No matter how this book performs, whether it flopped or became a rising star, I won’t get any royalties this month. Plus, my business venture failed and I have no income or savings. In order to support myself, I decided to do some part-time jobs during this period. Well, I haven’t decided what to do specifically yet, but it will definitely affect future updates. Although I can guarantee to keep updating, I still have to explain this first.

PS3: Big guys, please be kind and give me some time to kill time.

Chapter 89 Oh my god! Your circle is so chaotic! (Additional update 32)

Now that the tone has been set, as for which specific troops to mobilize and how much food to prepare, these are not things Tony needs to consider.

"Brother, do you have any specific plans?" After leaving the Senate Hall, Nero rarely put on a serious expression and said.

Plan? Tony scratched his head. It was certain that he would not fight in a war. Vespasianus would be the commander, and he would just be a banner.

But just sitting there as a flag doesn't fit my character as a time traveler at all!

"Tsk, if I had known I should have brought the other two semi-finished hand cannons along as well." Tony sighed, feeling a little annoyed.

If the two semi-finished hand cannons were also brought over, then Tony could use the blacksmith shop in Rome to perfect the hand cannons. In this way, he would have three hand cannons in his hands. Although these three hand cannons are not enough to turn the tide of the battle, they can still be used to temporarily suppress the enemy's morale in a battle.

"Tsk, Your Majesty, I need you to do me a favor." After returning to the palace, Tony, who was sitting on Nero's bed, thought for two seconds and suddenly raised his head. He looked at Nero who was standing on the balcony not far away and spoke.

"Ah? What?" Nero, whose thoughts were interrupted, shook his head in panic, turned to look at Tony and asked.

"Huh???" Seeing the panicked expression on Nero's face, Tony looked suspicious: "Your Majesty...what are you doing?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing." Nero waved his hand, walked lightly to Tony, and touched his little head: "Be good, tell me, what do you want me to help you with?"

"Tsk..." Tony's face was still full of suspicion, as if he was trying to find some flaws in Nero's face.

But as an "artist who can be compared with Apollo", Nero naturally couldn't let her brother know that she was planning to find a fiancée for Tony. Nero coughed lightly, showing a bright smile of a girl on her face, and said, "Okay, brother, be good, tell me, what do you want me to do for you?"

Tony blinked his eyes and decided not to bother about these little things when he saw that he couldn't find any flaws. "Your Majesty... Sister, I need you to grant me the power to freely mobilize all the personnel in the city's armory. I also need at least one blacksmith shop to use because I want to make some new weapons."

The hand cannon is relatively complicated to manufacture, and the Roman hunting bow is relatively not very powerful. In addition, it takes several years to train archers. Now that the war has begun and the army is gathering, Tony has no time to train English longbowmen. So it is better to make something simple but can effectively change a battle.

That's right, Tony plans to build a thunder bomb and a human-powered catapult.

Something like a thunder bomb is simple and crude. It is made of thin iron sheets into the shape of a can, filled with gunpowder, a small hole is left at the top of the can, and then the fuse is inserted, and a thunder bomb is ready.

As for the human-powered trebuchet, it is even simpler.

There are mainly two types of trebuchets used by the Roman Empire today, one is the elastic trebuchet, and the other is the torque trebuchet. Generally speaking, the elastic trebuchet is the scorpion crossbow of the Roman Empire in Total War: Rome, a thing that is a little different from the Chinese bed crossbow. Although the crossbow arrows fired by this thing are not as powerful as those of the bed crossbow, it has another function that the Chinese bed crossbow does not have, which is the ability to fire stone bullets.

The Torque Trebuchet is basically the catapult in Age of Empires 2. Although it is more powerful than the Scorpion Crossbow, its hit rate is even lower than that of the Hand Cannon. It can be said to be the most random of the random.